Is coffee tax deductible?
Coffee with a client or prospect is half deductible, like any business meal. Your own coffee on a working day is personal, even at the café you work from.
The rule
A coffee meeting is a business meal: if it is with someone you do business with or hope to, and you talk about it, half is deductible.
The coffee you buy for yourself while working is a personal expense, like lunch. Working from a café doesn’t change that.
On a work trip away from home overnight, your own coffee is part of travel meals and 50% deductible.
A $14 coffee with a prospect puts $7 on the return.
Priced at 36¢ on the dollar, the rate of a $95,000 sole proprietor in California. Work out yours.
- Where it goes
- Schedule C line 24b, deductible meals
- What to keep
- The receipt and who it was with.
Checked on September 25, 2026 against Publication 463, Travel, Gift and Car Expenses. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
See it on every receipt.
Snap it and Reimburse files it on the right Schedule C line, takes the deductible share and shows what it puts back.