Key Takeaways:

• Several everyday deductions dental practices relied on are now limited or eliminated.
• Employer‑provided meals and on‑site food are no longer deductible beginning in 2026.
• Client meals and business travel meals continue to be 50% deductible with proper documentation.
• These changes affect day-to-day spending decisions, not just year-end planning.
• Practices should reassess perks, reimbursements, and cash‑flow assumptions now, not at filing time.

Earlier this year, we shared an overview of the broader tax deduction changes affecting dental practices in 2026: what changed, what stayed the same, and how to stay ahead. This follow-up takes a closer look at one area where many practices are now seeing real, day-to-day impact: meals, staff perks, and operating expenses that quietly lost their tax benefit as of January 1.

While these provisions aren’t new to the tax code, 2026 is the year they are fully phased out. For many dental practice owners, the impact is only now becoming clear, especially as routine expenses no longer reduce taxable income the way they once did.

These changes don’t mean your practice is out of compliance. But they do mean that assumptions built into your budgeting and tax planning may need to be updated to avoid surprises.

The Biggest Change: Employer-Provided Meals

For most dental practices, the most noticeable shift in 2026 is how employee meals are treated for tax purposes. Meals provided for the employer’s convenience are no longer deductible. This includes:

• Breakroom snacks and beverages
• Coffee and refreshments
• Catered lunches
• Meals provided during long workdays or late hours
• On‑site cafeteria or food programs

This rule applies even when meals support productivity, keep staff on-site, or contribute to team morale. In prior years, these costs were partially deductible, but that benefit has officially expired.

However, some meal deductions remain intact:

• Meals with patients, referral partners, vendors, or consultants are still 50% deductible, as long as there is a clear business purpose.
• Meals during overnight business travel also remain 50% deductible with proper documentation.

For practices that treat food as part of their culture, this change isn’t about compliance; it’s about budgeting. The expense still exists, but the tax benefit does not.

2026 Deductibility Comparison Table

Here’s a quick glance at how common meal-related expenses are treated starting in 2026:

Expense Type	Deductible Before 2026	Deductible in 2026
Employer-provided meals (on-site, convenience)	50%	0%
Breakroom snacks, coffee, beverages	50%	0%
Client / referral source meals	50%	50%
Employee travel meals (overnight travel)	50%	50%

Documentation and proper reporting remain essential.

What Dental Practice Owners Should Review and Update for 2026

While meal deductions tend to draw the most attention, they’re often just the first place where outdated assumptions show up. The broader issue for many dental practices is that certain expenses still exist, but no longer deliver the same tax benefit they once did.

To stay ahead of surprises, this is a good time to review:

• How compensation, benefits, and non-cash perks are structured
• Whether certain fringe benefits should now be treated as taxable wages
• Recurring expenses that were previously deductible but no longer are
• Whether certain perks still make sense without a tax offset
• Timing of equipment purchases or office improvements
• Whether some expenses should shift from the practice to the personal level
• Cash flow projections built around deductions that no longer apply
• Documentation for client meals, travel meals, and reimbursements

This isn’t about alarm or drastic change. It’s about making sure your planning reflects today’s tax landscape, not rules that quietly expired. Addressing these items proactively almost always leads to better outcomes than trying to retroactively adjust at year-end.

Our Take: Awareness Beats Surprise

Tax laws don’t always change with big headlines. Sometimes they shift quietly in the background. The impact often shows up only when the numbers don’t look the way you expected.

At Edwards & Associates, we help dental practice owners understand how current tax rules influence real‑world decisions, from payroll and perks to cash flow and long‑term planning. If your practice may still be operating under assumptions from prior years, now is the right moment to revisit them. If you’d like to review how the 2026 deduction changes affect your practice specifically, our team is ready to walk you through the details long before small changes turn into costly surprises.