Business meals are generally 50 percent deductible. Entertainment is not deductible at all. Travel counts only when you are away from your tax home overnight for business, and vehicle use needs a mileage log. What decides whether any of it survives an audit is not the amount. It is whether there is a record written at the time.
Vehicles: the deduction refused most often
Of the three, vehicle use is refused most often, and for one reason: there is no log. A business use percentage estimated at year end is the thing that fails.
A mileage log records, for each business trip, the date, where you went, the business purpose, and the miles. It can be a notebook, a spreadsheet, or an app. What it cannot be is a figure reconstructed in March.
Commuting is not business use. Driving from home to your regular place of work is personal, however far it is. Trips from that place of work to a client, or between work locations, are business.
There are two ways to claim vehicle costs: the standard mileage rate, or actual expenses such as fuel, insurance, repairs and depreciation, in proportion to business use. The choice made in the first year a vehicle is used for business affects which method is available later.
For 2026, the standard mileage rate changed partway through the year: 72.5 cents a mile to June 30, and 76 cents a mile from July 1. A 2026 log needs two rates, so the miles have to be split by date. That is one more reason the log has to record dates, not just totals.
Meals: what people believe and what the rule is
People commonly believe that a meal with a client is fully deductible. It is generally limited to 50 percent of the cost.
The second belief is that entertainment is still deductible. It is not. Tickets to a game, a round of golf, or a concert with a client are not deductible, even when business is discussed. A meal bought at the event can be, if it is separately stated on the receipt.
A deductible meal needs a business connection: a client, a customer, a supplier, or another business contact, with you or an employee present. The meal cannot be lavish in the circumstances. A meal eaten alone at your desk on an ordinary day is not a business meal.
Travel: what makes a trip business travel
Travel expenses are deductible only when you are away from your tax home for longer than an ordinary working day and need to sleep or rest. Your tax home is your main place of work, not necessarily where you live.
The test people miss is the main purpose of the trip. A trip whose main purpose is business can include some personal days, and the travel there and back is still deductible. A holiday with one meeting attached is mostly a holiday. Count the days: business days against personal days is usually where the answer is.
While traveling for business, lodging is deductible and meals are subject to the same 50 percent limit.
What record is enough
The best record is one written at the time, not a reconstruction.
For each expense, the record should show the amount, the date, the place, and the business purpose, and for a meal, who was there. A calendar entry that says who, where and why, next to the receipt, is stronger than a spreadsheet assembled at year end. A receipt alone shows that money was spent. It does not show why.
Keep the records for as long as the return can be examined, and longer for a vehicle whose depreciation runs over several years.
What to fix before the year closes
October is a good time to look at this, because a record started now covers a quarter of the year, and a record started in March covers none of it.
- Start a mileage log today if there is none, and record the odometer reading.
- Add the business purpose to calendar entries for client meals.
- Separate entertainment from meals in your books.
- Keep the vehicle’s purchase records if it was bought this year.
Which expenses hold up more generally is covered in which expenses a self employed person can actually deduct, and the home office in the home office deduction. Setting up records that make the return straightforward is part of the business service.