Recipe
Deduct a client dinner in Germany, correctly
The restaurant receipt alone isn't enough for the tax office — it requires a separate Bewirtungsbeleg naming every participant and stating a specific occasion. Split The Bill generates that record straight from the bill you've already split.
Last reviewed: September 2026
A self-employed person or managing director taking a client to dinner to discuss a proposal is hosting someone outside their own company. That's tax-relevant on its own: entertaining an external person is only 70% deductible, not 100%. The record needs information a receipt never has — who was at the table and why. Split The Bill already knows the participants from the bill split and adds the occasion, entertainment type, and the tax calculation.
Step-by-step
- 1
Photograph the bill and add the participants
Add the restaurant bill as usual and add the client as a participant of the split — the same way you would for any other shared meal.
- 2
Choose "external" as the entertainment type
Because a client was hosted, the meal gets marked "external." That automatically sets the 70% share, instead of the 100% that applies to hosting only your own employees.
- 3
State a specific occasion
Rather than "business dinner," enter something checkable — e.g., "proposal discussion, Project X, client: [company], contact: [name]." A too-generic occasion is one of the most common reasons a record gets rejected.
- 4
Sign and keep the record
Once signed, the record shows the deductible amount (70%), the non-deductible portion (30%), and the fully recoverable input VAT as separate lines, and is saved as a locked PDF.
Why 70% and not 100%
Under § 4 Abs. 5 Nr. 2 EStG, entertaining external business associates — clients, prospects, suppliers — is 70% deductible as a business expense, 30% not. Only when the meal hosts exclusively your own employees does the full 100% rate apply. Input VAT is unaffected by this split: it's 100% recoverable under § 15 UStG, including on the non-deductible portion.
What the underlying receipt itself must satisfy
Since 1 January 2025, the deduction is only accepted when the underlying receipt is machine-generated and secured by a certified TSE (technical security device). For receipts over €250, the hosting business's name must additionally be machine-printed on the receipt itself, not added by hand afterward.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage can I deduct for a client dinner?▾
70% of the cost is deductible as a business expense, 30% is not — this applies to entertaining external people like clients or business partners (§ 4 Abs. 5 Nr. 2 EStG). Input VAT is unaffected and remains 100% recoverable.
Is the restaurant receipt enough on its own?▾
No. The tax office additionally requires a Bewirtungsbeleg naming every participant and stating a specific occasion — neither of which appears on any restaurant receipt.
What if the receipt is over €250?▾
Then the hosting business's name must also be machine-printed on the receipt itself, not added by hand afterward — a requirement on the restaurant receipt, not on the separate Bewirtungsbeleg.
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