Can I deduct meals while on regular shift as a police officer. Last year my preparer did.

[ctucker3270]

It was based on the number of regular shifts I worked and was listed under "On the Road"

[Phillip1 · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, this is generally not correct. Police officers cannot deduct meals that are eaten during regular shift work. There are some possible situations where meals may be deductible (like for travel away from home) but that doesn't include meals during your regular shift work.

This is a common misconception. If the tax preparer claimed a deduction for all your meals during shift work, you may want to amend your return to remove the deduction. The amended return would have some tax due, but it would save you money compared with the penalties and interest that the IRS would charge if the corrected the deduction in an audit. 

See page 10 of the following IRS PDF: IRS - Is this Deductible?