Food & Subsistence
Subsistence (food & drink)
Everyone has to eat, so HMRC's starting point is that food and drink are a personal cost, not a business one. The exception is travel: when work takes you away from your normal base — an occasional journey outside your usual pattern, or an overnight stay — the reasonable cost of meals on that trip can be claimed.
Business travel meals
Meals bought during a qualifying business journey can be allowable, but the rules differ sharply between self-employed and employees — and ordinary commuting or everyday office eating never qualifies regardless of how hard you are working.
Staff refreshments & working lunches
Providing food and drink to employees during working meetings and events can be an allowable business cost, but the rules depend on whether it is a modest working meal, a social staff event, or — critically — a sole trader trying to claim their own lunch.
Overnight incidental expenses
When an employee or director stays away from home overnight on business, the employer can reimburse up to £5 per night for UK stays or £10 per night for overseas stays tax-free, to cover minor personal costs such as newspapers, laundry, and personal phone calls home. This relief does not apply to the self-employed and carries a strict all-or-nothing rule — exceed the limit by a penny and the entire payment becomes taxable.
Everyday food & drink while working
Food and drink consumed during a normal working day — at a desk, in a café near the office, or at home — is not a deductible business expense. Everyone needs to eat regardless of work, and that dual-purpose nature means the 'wholly and exclusively for business' test is not met.