When you mix a union boilermaker with a competitive bodybuilder, you get a tax return that’s half job-site mileage and half specialty protein. That’s exactly what happened when Corey Wheir, a Wisconsin welder who also competed in bodybuilding, filed his taxes.
Wheir claimed two big deductions:
- Car expenses for traveling to 19 temporary job sites
- The cost of his “fuel” for bodybuilding: three pounds of buffalo meat a day, protein shakes, and vitamins
The IRS pushed back hard. Their stance? Wheir’s “tax home” was basically the entire state of Wisconsin, so none of his driving counted as deductible travel. The Tax Court wasn’t buying it. It ruled that trips beyond his 35-mile radius from home did qualify as business travel for his boilermaker work.
Then the court turned to the buffalo.
Wheir argued that his meat-heavy diet was an ordinary and necessary expense of his bodybuilding business. Without the protein, he said, he couldn’t compete or maintain his professional condition. The court didn’t doubt the protein helped. It just didn’t matter.
Groceries are “inherently personal expenses.” Everyone needs food. The fact that Wheir ate three pounds of bison a day didn’t transform dinner into a business deduction.
Still, he walked away with one small win. The court allowed deductions for his specialized bodybuilding oils — products used to prep for competitions and marketed specifically to bodybuilders, not the general public.
The IRS won the beef battle. But Wheir kept the shine.
