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).
For example, if your AGI is $70,000, then only that part of
miscellaneous itemized deductions above $1,400 are deductible.
The leading case for the deduction under the limited
criteria above is Sibla v. Comm. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10587705296303779143&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholar...
