Business travel meals

Meals bought during a qualifying business journey can be allowable, but the rules differ sharply between self-employed and employees — and ordinary commuting or everyday office eating never qualifies regardless of how hard you are working.

Everyday food & drink while working

Food and drink consumed during a normal working day — at a desk, in a café near the office, or at home — is not a deductible business expense. Everyone needs to eat regardless of work, so the cost is at best dual-purpose: it fails the 'wholly and exclusively' test that applies to sole traders, and the stricter 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' test that applies to employees.

Overnight incidental expenses

When an employee or director stays away from home overnight on business, the employer can reimburse up to £5 per night for UK stays or £10 per night for overseas stays tax-free, to cover minor personal costs such as newspapers, laundry, and personal phone calls home. This relief does not apply to the self-employed and carries a strict all-or-nothing rule — exceed the limit by a penny and the entire payment becomes taxable.

Staff refreshments & working lunches

Providing food and drink to employees during working meetings and events can be an allowable business cost, but the rules depend on whether it is a modest working meal, a social staff event, or — critically — a sole trader trying to claim their own lunch.

Subsistence (food & drink)

Everyone has to eat, so HMRC's starting point is that food and drink are a personal cost, not a business one. The exception is travel: when work takes you away from your normal base — an occasional journey outside your usual pattern, or an overnight stay — the reasonable cost of meals on that trip can be claimed.

Food & Subsistence

Business travel meals

Everyday food & drink while working

Overnight incidental expenses

Staff refreshments & working lunches

Subsistence (food & drink)

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