Company Driver, Paid "Per DIem", looking for tax deductions

All equipment you bought to do your job that wasn't reimbursed by the company. Gloves, tools, etc.

Did a dog ride with you? Claim him as security to write off food and vet bills.

Serious satellite radio subscription. Any other professional dues for things like OOIDA.

Did you buy a laptop? Cooler? Fridge? Inverter? Did you pay out of pocket for your cdl training (it *might* be deductible)? Did you contribute to retirement? Give to charity? Have huge medical expenses that are more than 7% of your income? Have a cell phone used for work that you paid for?

Remember when filing your taxes that 11 cents per diem is non-taxable income and will probably be your biggest tax shelter.

Go through that tax book with your wife a page at a time together. Then do it again.

Without a mortgage or retirement... it's rough.

 

You can also deduct any of the per diem amount the company did not pay...

Figure the total full days away from home, times $59 (jan-sept) $65(oct-dec). Gives total A.
Figure the number of partial days away from home, those where you returned home or left from home, same as above, but take the Total times 75%... gives total B

Add A and B to get C, your total per diem for the year.
Now tax your total per diem for the year times 80% equals the total per deim tax deduction allowed.. Total D
Take D and subtract what the company paid you in per diem, which gives you the rest of the tax deduction you are allowed.

 

Yup, easy as that.

 

It is very easy,
200 full days out for jan to sept... 200*59=11,800. 50 full days for oct to dec... 50*65=3,200 total A= 15,050.
20b partial days ... 20*59*.75=885 5 partial days... 5*65*.75=243.75 Total B = 1,128.75.

Total per diem for the year...15,050+1,128.75=16,178.75

Eligible to take 80% of that as a tax deduction.... $12,943.00

Company reimbursed X dollars over the year, reported on the W2.. but they rarely reimburse the total amount.

The difference can and should be deducted from your taxable income.

A company does not have to pay you per diem for you to be able to claim the deduction at the end of the year.. it is for everyone who is away from home over night.

 

You're talking about two different animals here, per diem is the tax free portion of your CPM. You're talking about the DOT standard deduction of $64 a day for truckers away from home overnight. You can't combine the two on your tax return.

 

Not only that, deductions you make have to be justified. A dog is not, it will get disallowed under an audit. Equipment like computers have to be depreciated and so on.

Your best move is get an accountant who can do it for you and stop messing around with it.

 

Yes and no ... What is justifible for an owner on schedule C may or may not be justifible for an employee on schedule A .

A dog? Definitely not for an employee. For an O/O, possibly after going through some hoops. Computer? Definitely for an O/O. But an employee, need to prove that is is required to do your job.

 

Well sort of.

If you are required to have gloves, then it is justified. while at the same time anything you use for work exclusive of other things, you can claim as an non-reimburse expense (line 21) in your schedule A.

The same goes for the situation where you have to buy oil and other things the employer is supposed to buy. You claim them under non-reimbursed items with a receipt and justification.

Example, I have one customer who refuses to buy oil and I can't drive their truck unless it is at the minimal amount on the dip stick, so I buy three gallons I keep in my pickup (which is different type of oil I used in the truck) just for this problem if I face it. I make the claim that it is a non-reimbursed expense on my A because my employer nor the customer actually does anything about it. It is a safety related item and part of my job to maintain the oil in the truck to prevent an engine problem AND to fulfill my DOT requirements.

Either way, the dog has been disallowed. What the problem is when you look at the expense vs. the need to write off that amount of money, it is very little gain. The only reason I can see it being claimed is to offer up some sacrificial items for the auditor to claim on their report.

Computer can be justified by an employee too, there are several instances where things like route planning and so on can be done on a computer. Phones on the other hand are hard to justify unless you make the claim apportioned by personal use and company use.

 

Full days are 80%
Partial days are 75%