I was told that at 70 cents a mile as a 1099 driver, i would be making the equivalent of 60 cents a mile as a w2 driver because of self employment tax. That maybe could be true, but what i did not know was the huge tax break from per diem. The w2 company i used to drive for offered it at a cost of 2 cpm to make 10 cpm non taxable, so really i am barely breaking even with that. But now that i am free to take per diem, it makes up for the self employment tax. As it was explained to me, a truck driver gets 80% of $80 per day written off, 271 days total for me. Do I have that correct?
I care nothing for health insurance, so 1099 pay suits me. I had not saved any receipts for 2025, but am doing so now for 2026 on the few expenses i have.
Went and talked to a tax expert, turns out as a 1099 company driver I am not spending extra in taxes
Discussion in 'Trucker Taxes and Truck Financing' started by A Bug, Apr 9, 2026 at 9:56 PM.
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