Can an Uber driver deduct food expenses?

Question

A person is working for Uber driving people around. He is self-employed. He often eats lunch out. Is the cost of this lunch deductible on his income tax return?

Answer 1

No, the cost of your own meals is not deductible unless you're traveling away from home for business purposes. Riding around as an Uber driver doesn't constitute "traveling away from home".

See the IRS Publication 463:

You are traveling away from home if:

• Your duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home (defined later) substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, and
• You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.

This rest requirement isn’t satisfied by merely napping in your car. You don’t have to be away from your tax home for a whole day or from dusk to dawn as long as your relief from duty is long enough to get necessary sleep or rest.

If you get an Uber ride where you're driving a passenger for a significant amount of miles to justify resting away from home (e.g.: you're driving a passenger from NYC to LA), then you may probably claim that you're traveling for business. Having a lot of rides in a day doesn't qualify since as a self-employed driver you can always not take a ride and go home and take a rest.