2026-03-12 · 8 min read
How to Claim Food Waste as Tax Deductions
What bakery and food-business owners should record so unsold goods can support a fiscal deduction, and how a daily waste log replaces the shoebox.
A deduction is a paper trail, not a feeling
Unsold baguettes and trimmed pastry are a real cost. Whether that cost reduces taxable profit depends on the rules where you file, and on whether you can show what left the shelf, when, and at what value. A note that says “about €400 this month” rarely survives a review. A dated log of product, quantity, cost price and selling price usually does.
This article is practical bookkeeping guidance for owners, not tax advice. Confirm the treatment with your accountant before you file. In France, many bakeries use the idea of démarque connue: known shrinkage that is documented, as opposed to unexplained stock gaps.
Separate cost from missed revenue
Two numbers get mixed up at closing time. Cost price is what the item consumed: flour, butter, labour allocated the way your accountant already does it. Selling price is what you would have taken if it had sold. The deductible loss is usually tied to cost, not to the menu price. The menu price still matters, because it tells you which products are worth producing less of.
WasteSheet stores both. The CSV and print report list date, product, quantity, unit, cost price, selling price, cost loss and retail loss. Hand that file to your accountant instead of reconstructing a month from memory.
What a usable daily record contains
Date of the write-off, not the date you typed the spreadsheet. Product name that matches the catalog your accountant already recognises. Quantity and unit. The cost basis you agreed at the start of the year. Who logged it, so a second person can spot a double count. A reason is useful when the loss is unusual — a fridge failure, a cancelled catering job — and unnecessary for ordinary end-of-day bread.
Log it the same evening. A weekly reconstruction is where quantities drift. Thirty seconds at the bin is more defensible than an hour on Sunday.
How to hand it to your accountant
Export the month as CSV and, if they prefer a signed pack, print the PDF from the analytics screen. Keep the file with the month’s sales journal. If a reviewer asks how you valued a croissant, the catalog row answers it: cost price, selling price, unit.
Do not inflate quantities to “make the deduction worth it”. A consistent method, applied every day, is what holds up. If you donate food, record that stream separately from waste. Donation and destruction are not the same entry.
A simple monthly close
On the last open day, export the period, check the three worst products, and send the file. Note any day the shop was closed so a zero is not mistaken for a missing log. If a price changed mid-month, update the catalog before the next closing so new rows use the new cost.
Owners who do this for a quarter stop arguing about waste in the abstract. They have a number, a method, and a file their accountant can book.