The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 115-97) has created quite a stir in the tax community regarding the status of meals in a business context. Congress moved in the Act to deny any business deduction for entertainment. And the Conference Committee Report allowed that meals “associated with operating” a trade or business remain deductible.
But the one example the Committee Report cited is one where the meal is clearly related to travel—a class of meals no one would have doubted was still an allowed expense under the law. That leaves open the far less easy to resolve question regarding what other meals still remain deductible.
In early October of 2018 the IRS issued Notice 2018-76 that gave temporary guidance on dealing with such meals.