If you are self employed, and the vendor or company that you did work for reimbursed you for expenses, it's common to include those amounts in the 1099-NEC the provide. It's not a perfect system, however you can deduct your expenses that are included in the income.
You can go back to them and ask for a corrected 1099-NEC so that only the earnings above expense reimbursements are shown. For that company, either way, they will deduct the amounts paid for your expenses. Maybe explaining that to the accounting office will help. If they refuse, you can choose to report only the income earned and keep detailed records to prove your numbers.
Otherwise, you are correct that you will pay income tax and self employment tax on the amount of meals expense the IRS does not allow. In other words 50% of your meals will not be allowed to be deducted before tax.
@TheFunDad
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