Your own lunch at your desk is not a deductible business expense.
Why it is not deductible
A meal you eat alone on an ordinary working day is personal and is not deductible, at your desk, in your van or at a cafe near the job. You would have eaten whether you worked that day or not, and a business meal requires a business purpose with a client, prospect, employee or other business contact present. The exception is being away from your tax home overnight, which does make your own meal deductible at 50 percent. Working through lunch, being busy, or being on a job site all day does not.
Log it once, with the line already on it. Type an expense in plain words in ClaryBook and it is filed with a date, vendor, amount and what it was for, so the number your preparer needs for your own lunch at your desk is already written down.
Start for freeWhat your own lunch at your desk is confused with
- Line 24b, deductible meals
- Your own meal becomes a 50 percent deduction on line 24b only when you are away from your tax home overnight for business, or when a client or employee is eating with you for a business purpose.
- Line 18, office expense
- Your own lunch is personal; coffee, tea and snacks stocked in a business premises for staff and visitors are office expense on line 18.
Examples people try to deduct here
- A $12 sandwich eaten alone at your desk, not deductible
- A $16 lunch alone on a local job site, not deductible
- A $9 cafe lunch while working alone on a laptop, not deductible
- A $32 dinner alone in another city on an overnight trip, deducted at $16
- A $12 sandwich bought for a client while you ate yours, deducted at 50 percent of the whole bill
What does not belong here
- A daily lunch habit claimed because the card is a business card.
- A solo meal claimed because you worked through it.
- A solo meal on a same-day trip with no overnight stay.
- Your own lunch bundled into a staff meal receipt.
What to keep
There is nothing to document, and that is the useful part: leaving these off the return removes the weakest category in most audits. Keep business meals in their own account so the solo ones never drift into it.
Other things that are not deductible
| Expense | Line |
|---|---|
| a business suit | Not deductible |
| a government fine or penalty | Not deductible |
| a parking ticket | Not deductible |
| a personal expense on the business card | Not deductible |
| a spouse's airfare on your business trip | Not deductible |
| a traffic ticket | Not deductible |
| an unpaid invoice | Not deductible |
| commuting mileage | Not deductible |
| country club dues | Not deductible |
| estimated tax payments | Not deductible |
| federal income tax | Not deductible |
| groceries for your home | Not deductible |
Related lookups
Sources
This page explains how Schedule C lines work. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation. If an expense is large or the answer turns on a fact about your business, confirm it with your tax preparer.
Looking for a different expense? The full Schedule C line lookup has every line from 8 to 27 with the expenses that belong on each, and Schedule C expense categories walks the whole form in order.
Log it once, with the line already on it. Type an expense in plain words in ClaryBook and it is filed with a date, vendor, amount and what it was for, so the number your preparer needs for your own lunch at your desk is already written down.
Start for free