Are groceries bought for work deductible if you are self employed? Like bottle water, Gatorade, food.

[alprimicerio]

I am self employed and do not have any employees.

[MickeyMath · Accepted solution]

I think you have to sort out what is business and what is personal which is not always easy.  A guideline that I always used is " that if you have an expense in your work that you would not ordinarily have if you were not doing the work, then it is probably deductible" .  I would suggest that your lunch every day is not deductible even though it is food. It might be deductible if you take a prospective client out for lunch to discuss business related to your work.  Gatorade which is used to maintain proper electrolytes in the body from too much sweating would most likely be acceptable.  However, Bottle water would be a little iffy.  I hope this sheds a little more light on the topic.  If you deducted a questionable item, the worst thing that would happen is that it might be disallowed in an audit and you would have to pay taxes on the amount disallowed.  

[Patrice]

If you're self-employed, one tax benefit you can take advantage of is the deduction for meals and entertainment. As long as the meal takes place when you are conducting business, you can deduct the full cost. Unlike other tax deductions, however, the meals and entertainment deduction is only 50 percent deductible.

[MickeyMath]

"You can deduct a portion of your business meal and entertainment expenses as long as they meet the requirements of being directly related to or associated with business. Entertainment and meal expenses you incur for a client, customer or employee are permitted deductions as long as the event is directly related to your business or associated with business activities. If you take a client to lunch to finalize a project planning phase, for example, you are conducting business during the meal. This qualifies as being directly related to your business and can be deducted on your income taxes. Meals and entertainment that are related to and happen immediately before or after a business event such as a meeting qualify as an associated expense and can be deducted.

Record Keeping

You must keep detailed records of meal and entertainment deductions. Your records must note how the expense is business-related, how much money you spent, the date and location of the meal or entertainment, and the relationship of the people you entertained. When you get your restaurant receipt, make a habit of jotting down the business purpose of the meal and all attendees before filing it in your records. If you need to recall that deduction later, you won't have to rely on memory alone, and you will automatically meet the recordkeeping requirements for the deduction.

50 Percent Deduction

Generally only 50 percent of the meal or entertainment cost can be deducted. You cannot claim meal and entertainment deductions as travel expenses. You also cannot claim the deduction for meals and entertainment that are lavish or extravagant."