Tax time

I just finished my taxes, and I used H&R Block. They knew what they were doing in regards to per diem and other things. We itemize due to per diem because I opted out of receiving it from the company. It seems like getting it from the company pretty much only benefits the company. Out of the $58k I made last year, they were able to deduct about $20k off of that for trucking related things. They also guarantee their work, if you get audited they go in for you and handle everything, and if you owe penalties for anything, they pay them. Good Luck and safe travels

 

I've always used HR Block DIY software. It's a little quirky in how/where/when you input your standard meal allowance and other itemized job-related receipts but it works and is cheaper then paying someone to do it.

You should have receipts to back up your claims for job-related expenses but you do not need meal receipts when taking the [beneficial] standard daily meal allowance rate, but as far as the days away from home (Meal allowance) you can use your paper logs or estimate and hope you're never asked to substantiate the days (amount) claimed in an audit. (probably won't be but you never know ...) I just keep a hand log of the days I'm at home, every other day is assumed on the job and away from home in my application.

 

unless you have a very large amount, no. You just need to give the preparer a list of the dates, and as best you can, the locations of where you were on the road, they will take care of the rest. It is based on a percentage of the daily per diem of the area you were in. Some areas are definitely more than others, so be as accurate as you can

 

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Transportation worker's per diem is completely different than "normal" people per diem. It does NOT vary by area, and you get 75% of the standard amount for the days you left home or arrived home. It is higher only in Canada (ignoring Mexico as not relevant to 99.999% of us).

If you use a tax preparer, ask them to explain the per diem allowance for truckers to you. If they start saying things like rates by area, move on and keep looking.

 

been using "Turbo Tax deluxe" for over 10 yrs. works great, Google the per diem question. deduct for clothes or boots or lap top if used for mapping, just don't get carried away. lol

 

I'm not sure how to respond to that. I've been using this same tax guy for 3 years and nothing's come up so far. The also guarantee their work, if I'm audited, they handle everything, I don't even have to show up. In addition, if there's any errors, they pay not only the interest and penalties, but the tax difference. Haven't had to use any of that, fortunately

 

Do they refund the taxes you've overpaid because of their incompetence? Transportation workers' per diem is substantially higher than "regular" per diem. You likely overpaid over $1,000 each year in income taxes related to that issue alone. What else did these "experts" miss on your behalf?

At the very least, they should file amended taxes for you for the last three years for free and get your money back. Who cares if they'll defend you at audit time, if they are so incompetent they leave thousands of $ on the table.

The IRS doesn't mind that, at all.......

 

If this is your first year doing taxes, I recommend using a tax professional and then you can use it as a template to do your following years.
Some of the tax code changes.

I just use the standard daily deduction the IRS has published.
There is a second method, not sure if it applies to OTR drivers.