Tax Season

Originally Posted by Drizzle

Publication 463 (2008), Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses

From what I can understand, unless you're traveling so far where you need a place to sleep, you cannot deduct meals. I'm not a tax professional, though.

This isn't the only situation listed. There's another one. But if you read the entire publication, it does appear as long as the meal was not extravagent or horribly expensive, and you are away from home long enough that it is impossible to eat a meal at home, it can be a business expense.

An example: an all-day business trip I took on behalf of my employer. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive one way, and I had breakfast before I left, and arrived back well before supper, so the employer reimbursed me for lunch because I was still on the road for lunch time.

I understand the same logic applies to meals when doing officiating. Since we normally leave at 3:30 or 4:00 for a long road trip to do a football game and sometimes don't arrive till midnight, dinner would be a business expense because we are not eating at home.