Saturday, January 27, 2007

Deducting Dunkin Donuts: Meals On The Road

Hi June,

My husband is a finish carpenter, he works for one company but is considered an independent contractor and gets a 1099 so we deduct for a lot of things at tax time. My question is this: Can he deduct for food expense while he is out on the road driving to and home from work? The reason I ask is I added up all his Dunkin Donuts receipts for coffee he buys while at work and it was $1,212.00 for the year of 2006. I'm hoping we can deduct this but I seem to remember the woman at H&R Block saying we couldn't. Please help us to know what we can and cannot deduct.

Thank You!!
Julie


Good Golly, Miss Julie! That's about $24 a week on donuts. Maybe it's time for celery sticks and carrots. A lot cheaper, too, because lunch on the job is not deductible. The only time regular meals are deductible is when your husband is traveling, and travel means overnight.

And, as always, read the book that can simplify your tax and financial life, AND save you money!
SELF-EMPLOYED TAX SOLUTIONS .
Best,
June

2 comments:

Beal said...

Hi, June! Maybe you were just trying to be funny, but it ends up looking like you didn't read closely enough. The items he bought were coffees, not donuts.

June Walker said...

Hi Beal,

Thanks for bringing that up. I really appreciate it. You're a careful reader.

I foolishly -- then again, maybe not so foolishly -- made an assumption that no one can walk into a Dunkin Donuts without ordering at least one chocolate donut.

Cheers,
June