{"id":32837,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/too-much-of-a-good-thing.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"too-much-of-a-good-thing","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/finance\/too-much-of-a-good-thing.html","title":{"rendered":"Too Much of a Good Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 02, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Legally Reviewed\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Fact-Checked\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p>It&#39;s fine for business associates to dine or lunch together. Indeed, if business is discussed before, during, or after the lunch (something which doesn&#39;t impose a hardship on most businesspeople), 50% of the cost of the lunch is deductible. It sounds good. It is good.<\/p><p>But don&#39;t do it too often. Courts have regularly held that there is no deduction where meals with business associates are frequent and reciprocal. This principle was upheld again in a recent Tax Court case.<\/p><p>Two doctors of different specialties shared office space. They treated some patients in common and one referred patients to the other. These discussions often took place over lunch, in which the two doctors engaged often. They alternated picking up the check.<\/p><p>The IRS disallowed the deductions for the lunches which one of the doctors took and this disallowance was affirmed by the Tax Court. The principle was as stated &#8211; the two doctors were allowed to have lunch together to discuss business, but they did it too often. The court found that the lunches weren&#39;t integral to the doctor&#39;s business and weren&#39;t clearly linked to the production of income. Their business relationship was close and well established. In addition, the reciprocal treating on such a regular basis was construed to mean that each only paid for his or her own meals and that the arrangement effectively represented a cost sharing arrangement.<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s fine for business associates to dine or lunch together. Indeed, if business is discussed before, during, or after the lunch (something which doesn&#8217;t impose a hardship on most businesspeople), 50% of the cost of the lunch is deductible. It &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6484,6479,6483],"class_list":["post-32837","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-finance__tax__federal-tax","corporate_categories-finance","corporate_categories-finance__tax"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/32837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=32837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}