Per Diem

I remember, a year and a half ago, when I went into Macks office for him to show me what Superior had to offer, I asked if they had 'per diem pay'....he just looked at at me and said, what's that? haha I explained to him what it was and he said, no we haven't had anything like that, that I know of.

 

Never heard of us using per diem. My tax professional told me that my tax return pretty much won't change next year. I'll get back $1K less, but my paychecks will be a few bucks higher each week to make up the difference.

 

How would this impact your future Social Security benefits? What are the real numbers if you have checked?

 

I'm about done using this forum...not that I hate it, but I enjoy the 'trucking gorups' on FB much more...just me, having said that, I had a few actual friends ask if they noticed a difference in their paychecks with the new 'tax break'....I was one of the few that doesn't see anything, since my check fluctuates week to week....I won't know anything until I do my taxes next year. And no more 'per diem write offs' With a family of 4(which I have) the standard is $24K. Last year I had up to $18K. As far as SS...as messed up as things are right now(health insurance, ESPECIALLY, and other things) who knows what'll happen in the next 10-20 years. I'm 42 so I have plenty of time to keep working 'until I die' IF, SS is still around.

 

don't know you or your situation, are you O/O? Wondering becuase if your a company guy, there is no need in having a 'tax Professional' or CPA, if you will...unless you have other forms of 'income'.

 

I checked with TransAm trucking about their pay scale and "per diem".

TransAm's pay is 31 cents per mile. Their "per diem" is 12 cents per mile, the maximum amount allowed by federal law.
This leaves 19 cents per mile as taxable income: federal income taxes, state income taxes, social security income taxes, and Medicare.

TransAm also mentioned an example to me:
If a driver drives 100,000 for the year, the pay for the year would be 31,000. Taxable income would be $19,000, "per diem" would be $12,000.

TransAm mentioned that "per diem" is MANDATORY. It is a tax break for the company, as far as Social Security, Medicare, and Workman's compensation is concerned.
TransAm also mentioned that all this FAVORABLY increases the drivers paycheck.

TransAm also mentioned that a really good driver can earn anywhere from a gross of $500 a week, to taking home $500 a week, depending upon how many miles the driver can legally accrue for that week, along with how many miles the company is able to give to the driver.

If I were a professional truck driver, given the choice of taking or not taking "per diem", I would NOT take it.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Company. It's well worth the $100 to have a tax professional get me as much money as possible.