Claiming GST credits for meals during business travel

 Author: RachelATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator

ATO Certified Response23 Feb 2026

Hi @TheGuys,

Yes, you can claim GST credits for meals and food purchased during business travel, but only for the portion that relates to business use. Since 13 out of 14 days were for business purposes (92.86%), you'll need to apportion your GST credit claim to reflect this split between business and private use.

To claim GST credits, you must meet these conditions:

• you intend to use the purchase solely or partly for your business
• the purchase price includes GST
• you provide or are liable to provide payment for the items
• you have a tax invoice from your supplier for purchases over $82.50.

If you're a small business, you might be able to use annual private apportionment to account for the private portion of your business purchases once a year, rather than each time you lodge your business activity statement. This means you claim your full GST credits in your monthly or quarterly BAS, then make a single adjustment at the end of the year.

Make sure you keep tax invoices for all purchases over $82.50 and records that show how you calculated the business versus private split.