> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10023100-bewirtungskosten-restaurant-essen-mit-geschaeftspartnern.md). # Entertainment costs, restaurants, meals with business partners Help on the Immodio entry item Entertainment costs, restaurant, meals with business partners.
## Entertainment costs, restaurant, meals with business partners Use this category for **reasonable entertainment costs arising from a business occasion** where the entertainment is directly connected with your letting activity. A restaurant visit is not deductible for tax simply because you are a landlord. There has to be a specific connection with generating, securing or maintaining your income from letting and leasing. The special rules for entertainment occasioned by business also apply to income-related expenditure. Section 9 (5) EStG expressly declares Section 4 (5) sentence 1 nos. 1 to 4 EStG to be correspondingly applicable. ### What can be entered here? Typical cases can be, for example: * a restaurant meeting with a property management to negotiate or discuss a management contract, * a business meeting with an architect or planner about a specific rental property, * a meal with a trade or construction company in connection with a larger project relating to the letting, * a business meeting with a financing partner, as far as it directly concerns a property that is let or intended to be let, * a business meal demonstrably relating to the letting with other contracting parties or service providers, * where applicable, entertaining a tenant or prospective tenant where there is actually a specific business occasion, for example a substantial contract negotiation. What is decisive is not **who** goes for a meal with you but **why** the entertainment takes place. A mere note such as "business meal", "meeting" or "tenant" is too imprecise for documentation for tax. The occasion should be specifically comprehensible. ### Example You meet a property management to negotiate taking over the management of a newly acquired apartment building. The restaurant bill: **€120** {% hint style="info" %} As the occasion for the entertainment you document, for example: **"Negotiation of the management contract, apartment building Musterstraße 10, Munich"** and the corresponding names of the participants. {% endhint %} ### Your own meal without business partners does not belong in this category Where you eat alone in a restaurant because, for example, you: * travel to a viewing, * inspect a rental property, * attend an appointment with a tradesman, * attend an owners' meeting, * are on your way to a let property, this is **not** entertaining people on a business occasion within the meaning of this category. {% hint style="info" %} Your **own meal** has to be distinguished from business entertainment costs. {% endhint %} Special tax rules also apply to your own meals on trips occasioned by your profession or your letting; an ordinary restaurant bill is not entered as entertainment costs. ### Private meals are not deductible The following, for example, likewise do not belong in this category: * dinner with friends, * meals with your spouse or family, * birthday meals, * private meetings with tenants without a business occasion, * private meetings with tradesmen or business contacts, * restaurant visits at which properties are only mentioned in passing. The fact that one of the participants is known to you professionally or in connection with your properties is not sufficient. The occasion for the entertainment actually has to be occasioned by the letting. ### The entertainment receipt is particularly important Stricter duties of proof apply to entertainment costs than to ordinary expenses. For the deduction for tax the following in particular have to be documented: * the place of the entertainment, * the day of the entertainment, * the participants, * the specific occasion, * the amount of the expenditure. With entertainment in a restaurant the restaurant bill also has to be kept. With entertainment in a restaurant it is sufficient for the supplementary entertainment receipt to state the occasion and the participants where the other details are apparent from the restaurant bill attached. ### What has to be on the restaurant bill? For bills up to and including €250 the tax authorities require in particular: * the full name and address of the restaurant, * the date of issue, * a specific description of the food and drink or the services, * the day of the entertainment, * the invoice amount. A bill stating merely "food and drink" and a total sum across the board is not sufficient for the deduction of entertainment costs under the current Federal Ministry of Finance circular (as at 19 November 2025). Specific descriptions such as a named menu or dish of the day, on the other hand, can be sufficient. For bills **over €250** additional requirements apply. These include in particular the restaurant's tax number or VAT identification number, an invoice number and the name of the host. ### Tips A tip can also be part of the entertainment expenditure. The tip should, however, be evidenced. Where it is not already shown on the machine-generated bill, evidence can be provided, for example, by the recipient acknowledging the tip on the bill. ### Note reasonableness Even where the connection with the letting is clear, only entertainment expenditure that is reasonable according to general opinion is eligible. An exceptionally expensive restaurant meal can therefore be problematic for tax where the amount and the occasion are not in reasonable proportion. ### Entertainment costs for staff Entertainment costs for staff are entered in the category "**Small gifts**". {% hint style="info" %} This category is, however, only available in [**professional mode**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben.md#professional-mode-for-income-and-expenditure) for income and expenditure. You can [**enable professional mode in the settings**](/en/anleitung/einstellungen/meine-daten.md#settings). {% endhint %} ### Assignment in Immodio As the assignment select either the category "**Property**", "**Unit**" or "**Owner**". ### Do not enter here Do not use this category in particular for: * your own meal without business partners being entertained, * private restaurant visits, * meals with family or friends, * meals during a trip to a rental property, * pure additional subsistence expenses, * small gifts where a more suitable category is used for them, * entertainment with no specific connection to the letting, * unreasonable representation expenses, * restaurant receipts for which the necessary evidence cannot be provided. ### Which documents should you keep? Keep in particular the proper restaurant bill, the completed entertainment receipt, the names of all participants, the specific occasion for the entertainment, the date and place and proof of payment. With a tip, the fact that it was paid should also be documented comprehensibly. The tax authorities require the supplementary details of the occasion for the entertainment and of the participants to be produced promptly.