From www.themandarin.com.au: Treasury’s costings for a proposed policy simplifying meal entertainment deductions for small businesses highlight significant uncertainties, with preliminary figures suggesting potential costs of $1.6 billion for broader entertainment expenses and $500 million specifically for meals.

The analysis faced time constraints, leading to assumptions based on U.S. data, indicating that costs could exceed $10 billion per annum if all small businesses fully utilized the proposed deductions.

Officials noted that the proposal could also normalise current unlawful deductions and varied estimates were discussed within the department reflecting the complexities of the costing process.