Standard Meal Allowance vs Payments by Calendar Year
How does the standard
meal allowance work?
- The IRS allows providers to include both reimbursed meals and those that were disallowed since this deduction is related to providing food.
- The IRS states that no portion of the cost of food provided to the family day care provider’s family, including food consumed by the provider or the provider’s own children, is deductible.
The deductible meal total is multiplied by the Tier I reimbursement rate, which the IRS defines as the standard meal allowance.
Since the deductible meals relates to when meals were served, this report tracks with meals served from January to December
How does Reimbursements
by Calendar Year work?
The Reimbursements by Calendar Year Report summaries the payments that a provider or center receive during the selected calendar year. Since the CACFP works on a reimbursement basis. This means that the payments made during a calendar year do not line up with the meals served that year. For example, meals served in December are paid in January.
Why doesn't my Standard Meal Allowance
match my Reimbursement by Calendar Year?
For income, the IRS wants income to track to when payments were sent
Since payments are made after meals are served, the reports will not match each other, but they will be compliant with the IRS regulations.