Provider Food Expense

[Unregistered]

Can meals be claimed that i pay for myself when at a conference, training, or our child care association meeting?

[TomCopeland]

Own food

You can only deduct food for yourself when you are on a business trip and stay overnight away from home. When you do this, you can deduct 50% of the cost of the food you eat, or claim a standard rate of $46 a day (divided by 2). This rate is higher in larger towns. See IRS publication 1545 for details.

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[wdmmom]

Does this mean that any lunches purchased for my assistant aren't tax deductible either?

[TomCopeland]

lunch for assistant

Does this mean that any lunches purchased for my assistant aren't tax deductible either?

You can deduct the cost of the lunch (or snacks) served to your assistant. Use the standard meal allowance rate for these meals and snacks, unless you want to safe receipts and estimate the actual cost of the food served.

[wdmmom]

You can deduct the cost of the lunch (or snacks) served to your assistant. Use the standard meal allowance rate for these meals and snacks, unless you want to safe receipts and estimate the actual cost of the food served.

What about fast food lunches? You can only deduct the standard meal allowance not the face value?

[TomCopeland]

standard meal allowance

What about fast food lunches? You can only deduct the standard meal allowance not the face value?

You either use the standard meal allowance rule for all your meals and snacks or the actual food cost for all meals and snacks. Therefore, when using the standard meal allowance rule, a fast food lunch is still only deductible at $2.22 a meal.