Can Personal Chefs Deduct Client-Requested Specialty Ingredients Not Normally Stocked?

Yes — specialty ingredients purchased specifically to fulfill a client's request, even ones you'd never normally stock or use for your own cooking, are fully deductible business expenses, since the purchase exists entirely because of a specific client booking. If a client requests a dish requiring an unusual spice blend, an imported ingredient, or a specialty item you'd otherwise have no reason to buy, that cost is a direct, deductible expense of fulfilling that job — no different from a...