per diem

Per diem is non taxed pay ...
its nice to get more money every week , but at the end of the year I think is where it get confusing .

I got nothing .... h&r block may also not be the ones I would take this kinda issue to. They will hire anyone to sit there and put the #'s in their computer . You need someone who deals with per deim a little more .

Just my worthless thoughts.

 

Per Diem pay is a very good deal for the companies. No so much for the driver. The IRS allows you to deduct $59 a day with no receipts. I think you get credit for 80% of that. If you have receipts then you can deduct more. The company benefits from Per Diem pay by not having to pay Social Security on the amount that is deducted. Since Social Security is paid at a rate of 15%, 7.5 by you and 7.5 by the company they are saving money. You are not. Also when you apply for a loan, you will find that you are not getting credit for making as much money as you really are.

Personally, I would never take a per Diem pay plan.

 

Per Diem...good...especially when paying child support. Why give the government more than you have to? Social Security is more corrupt than CR England. Who the $*@# wants to depend upon the government for retirement? Not me and I am 37. Go ahead and give Washington an interest free loan for a year...they thank you in advance.

 

After the 80%, then it is limited to 2% of the adjusted gross income. Then if you do not have a mortgage, and are married, it becomes a figure that is harder to get a benefit from.

 

If you don't take advantage of it, in a way that's positive to you, your nuts. Because if you think SS is still yours, well................try getting it.

 

Per diem was set up basically as a tax break for the company. While it helps you earn more net each week, you are giving them permission to claim your road expense, so you cant claim it on your returns. The additional net you get from it is the difference of what it would save you on your taxes. It doesn't really cost you anything, since youd have gotten the same thing had you claimed road expense on your return, but it gives them more to deduct from their gross, which is much much more than the drivers (and they have a higher tax rate than the driver usually-so it helps them save a little, which I don't mind since it don't cost me). You still have to keep your logs for 3 years though in case they get audited (If you have elogs they keep them). As for getting Big refunds, I never cared for that because you are basically letting the government use your money for a year for nothing, would be better off to put it in savings. Just my opinion though.

 

yep I opt for the per diem by choice, I have 1 child with an ex wife I must pay child support on plus my current family I support. I calculated the differences for myself and after so many months I opt into it. I do not worry about the end of the year since I always take the standard deductions having enough dependents so I do not need the write offs etc. Its not for everyone but its a good thing when used for the right person.

As another said about SS, good luck getting that in the future, they already have trouble paying it out as it is during the present day.

I also just got credit approved for a new place showing and explaining the per diem on my stubs, they calculated it in since it was still income.

 

I just left US Xpress, you're forgetting one important part of their per diem program. It isn't free. There's a clerical fee (they claim it costs them money, HA!) to "take advantage" of the per diem option. It's just under 2 CPM. Your check will be 10 to 30 dollars higher I think, but that fee will add up to over 2000 dollars at the end of the year (assuming you drive over 100k miles). Pretty much, you'll save between 2 to almost 3 thousand dollars by opting out of the per diem plan and just getting it in your tax return.

Also, you can still take your standard per diem deduction from your year end taxes with the per diem pay plan, but you need to subtract how much you received in per diem pay from it.

 

Per diem

59.00 per day-80%= 47.20 per day x 275 days=12980

You must subtract 1% of ur gross from the 12980

55,000-1%=550

12980-550= 12430