Tax Deductions

rdubill,

Another truckers site offers a "Truckers Tax Forum". Check it out @

roundtable.truck.net

Sorry, thetruckersreport.com

 

is the cost of my school deductible also?

 

Possibly, depending on the circumstances. You might want to check with the truck school enrollment dept and see if they know.

A couple of links for the per diem:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckers.per.diem.rate.shtml

http://www.driversdailylog.com/ddldaysoutforperdiem.htm

You may want to have a CPA or tax professional do your taxes the first year or two and let them find all the applicable rates, etc. I've used a CPA for years and while it costs a little more, he always finds new deductions and allowances. YMMV...

 

your log book is detailing your "per diem" expenses. if you keep the recipts from the resturants, you could end up short changing yourself.

however, keep recipts from ALL you other expenses, like pens, pencils, paper, clothing, laundry, motels, etc, etc. i forgot the allowable "per diem", hopefully someone else can tell you that..

as for schooloing costs, i'm not sure, unless you were layed off, or your employer shut down its doors, then "re-trainung" was neccessary for employment. but just "switching jobs" my not qualify you. then too, is your entire school loan paid off for the year 2006...?? if not, then only a portion my be deductable, but here again, a certified accountant will know what to do.

 

regarding meals - no need to keep track of your meal expense. The IRS has a flat rate for truckers of $52 per day and get to deduct 75% of that instead of the normal 50%. Be sure to tally how many days are you on the road.

Your schooling would be deductible as long as you were not reimbursed for it. Depending on the schooling determines exactly where on the 1040 it would go.

Hope this helps!

 

i use a simple formula for lying no i mean doing my taxes in regard to how many days i was out for per diem purposes 52 weeks in a year i am home for 1 day a week or so, so 304 sounds good ya thats what i'll use

 

This can go either way. There's times when itemized expenses don't exceed your standard decuctions and there's times when they do. Find a smart accountant or tax person.