The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 lowered corporate tax rates from a graduated schedule that reached 35% to a 21% flat rate. However, many business expenses are no longer tax deductible. That list includes all outlays that might be considered entertainment or recreation.
As of 2018, tickets to sports events can’t be deducted, even if you walk away from the game with a new client or a lucrative contract. The same is true if you treat a prospect to seats at a Broadway play or take a valued vendor out for a round of golf. Those outlays will be true costs for business owners without any tax relief.
Although, in the past, business entertainment has been done mainly with after-tax dollars, under the new TCJA, you will have to entertain clients and prospects solely with after-tax dollars. You should be careful about how this money is spent and judge the expected benefit. Nevertheless, if business entertaining has paid off for your company in the past, it may still prove to be valuable even without tax breaks.
Other details
Meal expenses associated with operating a trade or business, including employee travel meals, generally continue to be 50% tax deductible. However, keep in mind that the rules have changed for meals provided for the employer’s convenience. Previously, these were 100% deductible if they were excludible from employees’ gross income as de minimis fringe benefits. That might have been the cost of providing free drinks and snacks to employees at the workplace. Now outlays for such meals are only 50% deductible and they’re scheduled to become nondeductible after 2025.
On the bright side, the new law doesn’t affect expenses for recreation, social, or similar activities primarily for the benefit of a company’s employees, other than highly compensated employees. So, your business likely can still pay for holiday office parties with pre-tax dollars.