Rules for Per Diem

Hello Everyone. I've read a lot of posts in various categories for a long time and finally created an account to ask my own question.

Our trucking company has some drivers that have requested that we implement per diem so they can take advantage of paying less taxes which results in a larger paycheck. We want to offer this as an option to our drivers and are having trouble finding much information on how to correctly manage this. Our (old school) CPA did not want to have anything to do with it so after trying to prove it was legit for over a year we decided to change to a payroll company that would. The new payroll company does allow it however they cannot provide information as to the rules.

Is there anyone that has been involved with setting up per diem policy and implemented it willing to share where they found IRS rules? We have found IRS rules pertaining to $66 per day but nothing to tell us what qualifies for a day. For example, if a driver leaves at 12:00pm and is gone overnight would they qualify for a full day or a partial day? What constitutes a day? How do you track it? Does the driver report it or does the office decide based on what time they leave and return?

Any help is appreciated!

 

Hello wichris. Thanks for your response. Do you have a link to where I can find those rules? I'm not finding what I need when I google it.

 

Thank you very, very much!!! Hmmmm.... I never thought I'd be happy to read IRS regulations. LOL

 

Our drivers are paid percentage of revenue instead of per mile so the daily per diem allowance will work best for us. According to chapter 1, page 6 of the IRS publication link above the daily per diem allowance is $66 and 75% of that amount on the day they depart and the day they return. The rules do list 2 methods you can follow and provides examples.