Tax deductions....

Use this link to find n Enrolled Agent in your area .
http://www.naea.org/memberportal/Resources/ForTaxpayers/whatis_EA.htm

 

Once you take your per diem of .8*$52 per day away from home (if you're not already being paid by per diem, you will know that from your employer) you'll likely exceed the standard deduction and then you can itemize.

Tools, CB's, things of that nature that relate directly to the job of trucking can be deducted. You must keep the receipts for those. All you need for the per diem is your log books if you're ever audited, these are proof along with your w-2 (proof that you were a trucker and away from home). DO NOT keep receipts for meals if you take the per diem deduction because it isn't necessary unless you want to try and jew a few more dollars but it's a lot more work than it's worth.

As a company driver, you won't need a CPA to do your taxes. Programs like turbo tax etc. have an entry for DOT meals or similar wording and you simply multiply the number of days logged away from home x$52 (partial days count as well, just not days you're actually on home time) and enter the figure in the box. The software should automatically adjust it for the maximum percent of the $52 from the tax year you're filing.

 

Let's see there's the $59 a day deduction that the Fed's allow. This is for food and such. Pretty much everything that YOU, not the company, bought for and used in the truck has a deduction of some sort. Here's an example is you are on a 34 resart and you pay for a hotel room that's a tax deduction. Even a laptop computer has a deduction of some sort if its use to help you keep track of you spend and make on the road. Of course you said it best get with an tax person that has a understanding of the deductions that truckers can take.

 

Yes...TurboTax works like a charm.

 

I have tried TurboTax a couple of years ago. It said I wouldn't be getting anything back from the Feds and State of Calif. Then I went to a local tax person and got $1300. No a company driver doesn't need a CPA,just someone who is knowlegdable in the deductions a truck driver can take.

 

I'm pretty sure there's an extensive list of items a driver can claim on this site somewhere (maybe it was OOIDA? You can even claim PENS for example) and you don't need a CPA to enter them. As long as you know the items are legally deductable and have the receipt (that YOU paid for not the company) you're good to go.

If I were a lease op/owner op I would definitely use a cpa because it get's a lot more technical when you're deducting actual business expenses.

 

GET AN ACCOUNTANT! PERIOD! If you screw up with Turbo Tax or any of the other "box programs" who's going to go in and defend you to the IRS? HMMMMM ? That box? Not in this century And as Scuby said he got $1300 after the box told him no! Another ROFLMAO! I got almost $7000 this year!

Now that Per diem deal. Yes if the company pays you cash you STILL need to keep your logs and use them also, as the amount that that bottom feeder is NOT paying you on per diem does NOT come out to what the government pays and it's actually a % of 80 some odd dollars and comes out to $59 this year BUT there is actually 2 levels for this year and it's NOT the total of $59 but the first part of the year it was less so GET AN ACCOUNTANT that knows trucking. H&R or the other big store guys "might" have someone who "might" know trucks but that's why I pay my lady $75 a year to do mine after she had to refile from H&R! That per diem really helps to reduce your other taxes!

Go find an O/O in your home town and ask him who he uses as he probably has been using them for some time! Remember those Big Box stores use PART TIME personnel! That should get you to thinking!

 

Yessir, doing your own taxes, is like defending yourself in court.

Both have fools for clients !!!

 

Your chances of getting audited are extremely low if you do everything legal. Those CPA's use similar software but they have the additional training in knowing how to get around things. You can also buy audit protection from the software companies for an additional fee.

Do you know one of the main reasons people get audited? Mathematical errors and claiming "donations" with inflated values. If you can fill out the forms correctly and answer the questions honestly, you're not going to have any issues using tax software as a company driver. IF you fill it out correctly, a CPA isn't going to get you a bigger refund unless they're "working" your return.

Yes there is a higher amount for the last quarter of 2k9 for per diem and it's baked into the cake. The "per diem" the companies pay is is the same per diem. The only difference is in stead of getting a tax deduction from your filing, you get a decreased tax liability on your paycheck by showing less taxable income but it does decrease your gross amount for SS and disability purposes. You cannot claim BOTH.