Can I write off meal expenses as a pet sitter staying at clients' homes?

You've got a good question about meal deductions for your pet sitting business. The IRS does allow for meal deductions while traveling for business, but there are some important nuances to understand. Since you're staying overnight at clients' homes, this could potentially qualify as "traveling away from your tax home" for business purposes. Your "tax home" is generally the entire city or area where your main place of business is located. If you're staying overnight at clients' homes that require you to be away from your tax home, those meals would likely qualify for the 50% business meal deduction (note that for 2021-2022, certain business meals were 100% deductible, but we're back to the standard 50% for 2023 forward). Keep those receipts and make sure you note which client/job each meal was associated with. I'd recommend keeping a simple log that connects each meal expense to a specific pet sitting job to strengthen your documentation.

After reading all these complicated rules about meal deductions, I wanted to share something that really helped me with my side gig tax situation. I was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze my expenses after getting confused about what qualifies as business expenses vs personal. I uploaded my receipts and bank statements, and it actually flagged all my meal expenses while I was doing client visits for my consulting business. It explained exactly which ones qualified as 50% deductible business meals vs. personal. Saved me from incorrectly claiming some meals that would have definitely triggered questions from the IRS, but also helped me find legitimate deductions I was missing!

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai that someone recommended above. It was actually super helpful for my situation! I uploaded my bank statements from my pet sitting business and it automatically categorized everything. For meals specifically, it flagged the ones that were likely personal vs. business related based on the time and location. The part I found most useful was the explanation of the "tax home" concept - turns out my situation is different because I travel to several cities for pet sitting gigs, not just locally. The tool explained which of my meals qualified for deduction and which didn't, saving me from potentially claiming too many meal deductions. Worth checking out if you're confused about these gray areas!

Hey fellow pet sitter! I had the EXACT same question last year and spent hours trying to get through to the IRS for clarification. After waiting on hold forever multiple times and getting disconnected, I discovered Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). They actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The IRS agent I spoke with explained that meals while pet sitting at local clients' homes typically aren't deductible as travel expenses unless you're actually traveling outside your metropolitan area. But they did clarify some situations where certain food costs might be partially deductible for my business. Totally worth the call to get official clarification directly from the IRS!

I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about an issue with my self-employment taxes for weeks. It actually worked exactly as described. I got connected to a real IRS agent in about 25 minutes (would have been hours or days of attempts on my own based on past experience). The agent answered my specific questions about meal deductions for my consulting business and other self-employment questions I had. For anyone else wondering about meal deductions while working at clients' locations - the agent confirmed that regular meals while working locally aren't typically deductible unless they're directly related to business discussions or entertaining clients. However, they did clarify some exceptions that applied to my situation that I hadn't considered. Definitely worth getting official guidance directly from the IRS!

One thing nobody's mentioned yet is the potential for deducting a PORTION of those meal costs as "supplies" depending on your specific situation. I also run a pet sitting business, and my accountant advised that while the meals themselves aren't deductible, if you're buying special foods to entice difficult pets to eat their medications or buying treats specifically for the animals, those ARE fully deductible business expenses. Make sure you keep those separate receipts though! My accountant says if you're ever audited, having clearly separated personal meal receipts from pet supply receipts is critical.

Has anyone tried writing off the mileage driving between client homes instead? I found that to be much more straightforward and actually worth more in deductions than trying to deal with all these meal expense complications. Last year I tracked over 8,000 miles just driving between pet sitting clients and that deduction was worth waaaaay more than my meal expenses would have been.

Great discussion everyone! As someone who's been dealing with similar tax questions for my small business, I wanted to add that documentation is absolutely key regardless of which deductions you pursue. For meals specifically, even if you do qualify for the travel deduction, the IRS requires you to keep records showing the business purpose, date, location, and amount of each expense. A simple spreadsheet noting which client you were serving and why the meal was necessary for business can make all the difference if you're ever questioned. I also second what others have said about mileage - it's often a bigger deduction and much clearer cut. Don't forget you can also deduct other business expenses like pet supplies, cleaning supplies for client homes, phone bills (business portion), and even professional liability insurance if you carry it. Sometimes focusing on these more straightforward deductions gives you better results than trying to navigate the gray areas around meal expenses.