The most important point of all is that the expenses are "ordinary and necessary". Which means that you definitely need to incur in those expenses so you can provide your services. Regarding meals, you definitely need to pay attention if they are travel meals or business meals. They are treated differently. Business meals usually will be for meetings with clients, or some business contact. Travel meals are the meals while away from your tax home.
But to answer your question, in general, if it's an expense you need to incur to perform your services and they are not reimbursed, then they should be deductible (some with certain limitations).
For more information, you can check Topic No. 511, Business Travel Expenses.
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