Can an emergency first responder deduct meals?

yourstruly — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 04:53:56 GMT

I work 48 hour shifts as an emergency responder and would like to know if my meals on shift are tax deductible. Thank you.

The short answer is most likely no. There have been dec...

bwa — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 04:53:56 GMT

The short answer is most likely no.

There have been decisions on the deductibility of fireman's (EMT's would be similar) meals that have gone both ways. As the dust settles, comparing all of the cases indicates they may be deducted in a very few situations. These are:

The deduction is only for payments into a common mess fund (not the purchase of meals themselves)
that is required as a condition of employment by your employer, and is not contained in a union contract,
you are required to pay for the meals whether you eat them or not, and
the funds are maintained by the employer.

If you don't meet each of the three criteria, the meals are not deductible. In most of these plans, the payments are voluntary which would not meet the 2nd criteria.

If deductible, the expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction. Also, the expenses are limited to the amount paid in, not a per diem rate. In the few cases where they are deductible, they would be a miscellaneous itemized deduction for employee business expenses. Miscellaneous itemized deductions are only deductible if you itemize, and then only to the extent that your miscellaneous itemized deductions such as employee business expenses exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). Turbotax explains the 2% limit here. The leading case for the deduction under the limited criteria above is Sibla v. Comm.

topic Can an emergency first responder deduct meals? in Business & farm

Can an emergency first responder deduct meals?

The short answer is most likely no. There have been dec...