2016 W-2 question

Hello folks. I was a rookie driver back in 2016 and my first job was with Stevens Transport out of Dallas. I went with them because although their pay was bottom-of-the-barrel, their training program was top-shelf single malt. So I decided to bite the bullet for a while in exchange for the rigorous gauntlet that they put newbies through. And I'm glad I did; if you can do a year with Stevens, you're pretty much good-to-go anywhere else.

So when I started, they paid their rooks .30 a mile. I know, I know...but it was worth the struggle. They deducted .11 per mile on our checks which was tax-free. So as I look at the 2016 W-2, I made $9234 for the six months that I worked with them that year (I started in June). There were the federal, social security and medicare figures also, but no mention of the per diem, which I assume they don't report to the IRS.

So my question: Can I still deduct the $63 per diem on my return? I called their payroll office and they didn't really sound to confident in their answer. Their answer was actually, "You'd better consult your attorney to be safe."

Many thanks for your help. I'm not in the habit of double-dipping, but if the IRS is giving money away, I'm all for it!

 

I assume you mean recent tax years? I'm talking about 2016.