The Hill: Kudlow: GOP plan will include 'increased business deductions for meals and entertainment'

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that the forthcoming coronavirus relief package from Republicans will include "increased business deductions for meals and entertainment."

Kudlow mentioned the plan for a provision on business meals in an interview with Fox Business Network, but did not provide specifics. Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their proposal in the coming hours.

Currently, taxpayers can only deduct 50 percent of the cost of business meals, and they cannot deduct entertainment expenses.

Boosting business tax breaks for meals and entertainment has been a priority for President Trump. He pushed the idea earlier this year after speaking with well-known chef Wolfgang Puck.

"This will bring restaurants, and everything related, back - and stronger than ever," Trump tweeted in April.

But the idea has been criticized by Democratic lawmakers as well as tax-policy experts across the ideological spectrum.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement Monday that a provision to expand deductions for meals and entertainment would be "the latest example of a tax provision tailor-made to benefit the Trump family finding its way into major tax legislation."

Kyle Pomerleau, a resident fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a blog post earlier this month that expanding deductions for meals and entertainment would be "poorly targeted in the context of COVID-19," because many Americans are uncomfortable eating in restaurants due to the virus.

"Ultimately, the most effective way to help the restaurant and entertainment industries is to get the virus under control," he wrote.