food and taxes

True, it is a business decision whether or not to keep receipts vs the Per Diem allowance but your bread crumbs had nothing to do with that at all. You seemed to be covering business entertainment right-offs.

Your food receipts (if you chose to do it that way) would be 100% deductible.

The Per Diem allowance (currently 80% of $66 per day out) is very generous. I don't know anyone that spends that amount of money on food every day they are out.

 

So you can only take the per diem if you sleep in the truck?

If you are home daily you can deduct 100% of your food receipts through the day?

 

1 not according to my accountant.
2 I do well above that Number.





~$50 of $66 a day for every day out vs $50 of $100 every day/ let’s say 350 days a year.
Depends how you live which way is more effective; business pays for it but as the bookkeeper and accountant break down expenses that’s how they break it out; according to mine.

 

100 a day on food? ahahahaha.

 

And?

 

meals are a personal expense, per diem allowance is to help offset that. It is not just for meals but "meals and incidentals" which includes typical daily expenses like showers.

 

Do you eat at Ruth's Chris for breakfast lunch and dinner? ahahhaha. 35k a year food bill lol that is crazy. I couldn't spend 100 a day on food with your money and a gun to my head.

 

where I live is expensive.
Laws are black and white, life is a grey area imo
$100 a day doesn’t all go for me to eat....it goes on the card as the expense.


This is all business: you have to play up the things that bring the taxable net down where you can, ideally while getting some form of payment back. Ie you’re taking potential customers out, getting employees a gift card to a nice place, “I only have a card..” so they give you cash you cover the bill. these are all things people do to receipt expenses.


I feel like I shouldn’t have to lay all this out.


The underlying question is really, “how do I maximize my earnings while limited my tax exposure on said earnings?”
Whether it’s per diem, itemized expenses, having a company vehicle, or utilizing a traditional ira etc



Different peoples situation is different: it don’t have to be nearly the numbers I suggested for it to add up to a noteable difference one way or the other. For an OO who is home nightly w no per diem vs one that stays out for long periods and lives frugally off the truck and does use per diem, the numbers they pencil out look different and will change the outcome. ymmv

 

I'm sorry I thought we werere talking about, I assume you, spending 100 a day on food. Saying you spent 100 on food for tax purposes and actually doing it are two completely different things.