Can I claim business travel and meals deduction for my side hustle when I gather info for reports?

You're absolutely right about the mileage deduction! Since you're driving specifically to gather information for your business, those miles are deductible business expenses. Keep a detailed log of your trips with dates, starting/ending odometer readings, and business purpose. For the meals, good news - they are actually deductible in your situation. When you're traveling for business purposes and need to eat during that travel, those meals qualify for the business meal deduction. For 2025, business meals are generally 50% deductible, but make sure to keep all your receipts and note the business purpose of each meal. Just remember to separate your W-2 job expenses (which aren't deductible as an employee) from your self-employment business expenses. Only claim deductions related to your report writing business on your Schedule C.

I was in almost the EXACT same situation last year with my consulting business! I wasted so much time tracking receipts and trying to figure out the correct deductions. I finally tried https://taxr.ai and it was a game-changer for my small business taxes. You upload your receipts and business records, and it analyzes everything to find all your eligible deductions. For business travel specifically, it flagged all my mileage as deductible and automatically calculated the rate. For meals, it sorted out which ones were 50% deductible based on the context. Saved me hours of headaches and probably found deductions I would have missed.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since I was skeptical in my last comment. I decided to try it for my photography side business, and I'm genuinely impressed. It automatically separated my mixed-use vehicle expenses (personal/business) based on the locations and times of my trips. For meals, it correctly identified which ones were during legitimate business travel and which were just me grabbing lunch near home. It even found some office supply deductions I completely forgot about. The documentation it prepared for potential audits gives me peace of mind too. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with business travel and meals deductions.

If you're spending hours trying to reach the IRS about business deduction questions like this, try https://claimyr.com instead. I was on hold with the IRS for AGES trying to get clarity on business travel deductions for my situation, then found these guys who got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you back when they've got an agent on the line. Sounds simple but totally changed my experience. The agent I spoke with confirmed exactly which mileage and meal expenses were deductible for my business.

Need to admit I was wrong about Claimyr in my previous comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours trying to get answers about my business travel deductions (and getting disconnected TWICE), I decided to try it out of desperation. The service called me back in about 20 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. Got my business meal deduction questions answered right away. The agent confirmed that meals while on business travel are 50% deductible even when eating alone. For someone with a side business where every minute counts, it was absolutely worth not wasting half a day on hold.

Don't forget to track your mileage with an app! I use MileIQ for my consulting business, and it automatically logs all my trips. You just swipe right for business or left for personal at the end of each day. Makes tax time so much easier, and you'll capture every deductible mile. For the meals, remember to keep the actual receipts, not just your credit card statement. IRS wants to see itemized receipts that show what you purchased, not just the total amount.

Just as a heads up, if your business is profitable for 3 out of 5 years, the IRS generally considers it a legitimate business rather than a hobby. This matters because hobby expenses are much more limited in terms of deductions. Since you're tracking mileage and meal expenses carefully, make sure you're also keeping good records of income to demonstrate profit motive.