Can independent contractors deduct meal expenses while on delivery routes?

Hey all, I recently started working as an independent contractor for a local delivery service. I drive my own car making deliveries for everything from auto parts to medical supplies around town. It's a side gig I picked up about 3 months ago to supplement my main income. I'm trying to get organized with my taxes since this is my first time being an IC. One thing I'm wondering about - can I deduct the cost of meals I buy during my delivery shifts? Some days I'm on the road for 6-8 hours straight and have to grab lunch or dinner while I'm out making deliveries. Are these considered legitimate business meal expenses that I can deduct on my Schedule C? Or are meals while driving around town just considered personal expenses? Any guidance would be super appreciated!

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18 comments

Caleb Stark

•8M

Yes, you can deduct some meal expenses as an independent contractor, but there are specific rules you need to follow. For business meals, the IRS generally allows you to deduct 50% of qualifying food and beverage expenses. For your situation as a delivery driver, meals can be deductible if they're: 1) Directly related to your business 2) Not lavish or extravagant 3) You're present at the meal 4) The expense is properly documented Keep all your receipts and note the business purpose. I recommend using an app to track these expenses - take photos of receipts and note the business purpose each time. You'll need to report these on your Schedule C as part of your self-employment expenses. Just remember that regular meals during a normal workday in your local area are generally not deductible - the meal needs to have a clear business purpose beyond just "I was hungry while working.

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Caleb Stark

•8M

Fast food definitely doesn't count as lavish or extravagant, so you're good there! The IRS is more concerned about people trying to write off expensive steakhouse dinners or alcohol. Digital copies of receipts are perfectly fine as long as they show the date, amount, place, and business purpose. Many tax apps let you snap photos of receipts and categorize them, which makes things much easier at tax time. Just make sure you can clearly demonstrate the business connection for each meal.

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Hunter Edmunds

•8M

I spent YEARS struggling with tracking all my IC expenses, especially meals and mileage. I finally found a solution that saved me hours of headaches and probably thousands in deductions I would have missed. I've been using https://taxr.ai for the past few months and it's been a game changer for my delivery gig. It automatically scans all my receipts, including meal receipts, and tells me exactly what percentage is deductible based on my situation. It even flags when something might be questionable so I don't get in trouble with the IRS. The best part is it automatically separates the business vs personal portions of expenses, which was always confusing for me with meals.

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Hunter Edmunds

•8M

It's surprisingly good at distinguishing between business and personal meals. It looks at factors like timing, location, and patterns in your work schedule. For example, if you regularly grab lunch at the same time every day, it flags that as potentially personal. But if you're grabbing something during an unusual time while actively on deliveries, it categorizes it as business-related. For mileage tracking, yes it definitely handles that! It actually has a built-in GPS tracker that automatically logs your trips and separates business miles from personal ones. You can also connect it to your vehicle service records to capture maintenance costs that are partially deductible. Makes tax time so much easier when everything is in one place.

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Andrew Pinnock

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about that https://taxr.ai thing. I was skeptical but decided to try it after struggling with my quarterly taxes. It's actually legit! I uploaded 3 months of jumbled receipts and it sorted everything correctly - even identified when I bought meals during my actual delivery blocks vs just regular personal lunches. The mileage tracking is accurate too. It flagged a bunch of meal deductions I would have missed and even explained why they qualified as business expenses rather than personal. Already saved me like $340 in deductions I would have missed. Definitely worth checking out if you're doing IC delivery work!

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Brianna Schmidt

•8M

If you're having trouble getting answers from the IRS about meal deductions, I totally feel your pain. I spent TWO WEEKS trying to get through to them about some complex deduction questions for my delivery business. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally found this service called https://claimyr.com that actually got me through to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone system for you. The agent I talked to clarified exactly when meal expenses were deductible for my delivery routes and saved me from making some big mistakes on my return.

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Brianna Schmidt

•8M

No secret backdoor - they use technology to navigate the IRS phone tree and stay on hold for you. Basically they call the IRS, go through all the prompts, wait on hold, and then call you once they have an agent on the line. Then they connect you directly to the agent. It's actually pretty simple but incredibly helpful. I was skeptical too! I figured it was either a scam or wouldn't work. But I was desperate after spending hours trying to get through myself. It worked exactly as advertised - I got the call back when they reached an agent, and then I was talking to a real IRS person who answered all my specific questions about meal deductions for delivery drivers.

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Camila Jordan

•8M

OK I need to publicly admit I was wrong about that Claimyr thing. After being super skeptical in my reply, I was still desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my specific situation with meal deductions as a gig worker. Decided to try it as a last resort. It actually worked! Got a call back in about 35 minutes, and was connected to an IRS agent who went through all my questions about meal deductions. Turns out I've been doing it wrong for TWO YEARS and could have been claiming more legitimate deductions. The agent explained exactly which meals qualified during my delivery shifts and how to document them properly. Seriously shocked this worked. Sorry for being a jerk about it before.

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Tyler Lefleur

•8M

Something nobody mentioned yet - if you're on the road all day for deliveries, you might qualify for the "away from home" meal deduction rules which are different than regular business meal rules. If your delivery route takes you far enough from your tax home (usually 50+ miles), you could potentially deduct more of your meal expenses. Also, keep in mind the standard mileage rate (65.5 cents per mile for 2025) is meant to cover ALL car expenses including depreciation, gas, insurance, etc. If you're using that, you can't also deduct those car expenses separately. Just an FYI since a lot of new ICs get confused about that!

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Tyler Lefleur

•8M

You can still potentially deduct meals for local deliveries, but they fall under the regular business meal rules rather than the "away from home" travel meal rules. The key for local meal deductions is establishing that the meal had a business purpose beyond just eating because you were hungry. For example, if you're grabbing a quick meal between deliveries to maintain your delivery schedule, that could qualify as a necessary business expense. But if you're just taking a normal lunch break like any employee would, the IRS might consider that a personal expense. Document the business purpose for each meal and keep good records of your delivery schedule to show the connection.

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