Tax Question

as far as i would be concerned about that card, if the ammount of money u used on that card shows up on your W2 then i would just deduct it from your actual PerDiem %...

Personally i would take the 39 bucks X days worked .. Multiply that by 75% then subtract your nontaxable income from that figure and clame the remainder...

And if it does not show up on your W2 Clame all your perdiem.. thats how i would handle it if i were you

 

The meal card has nothing to do with the per diem.

You get the per diem from the IRS for being away from your tax home, not the truck.

 

What'd he say ??? Sounds like somebody needs the help of a CPA or enrolled agent . The long form asks the number of eligible days and also asks if you have been compensated for any of the entitled amount . It doesn't matter if it's on the W-2 or not . If you were paid per diem then claim the full amount it could cost you .

 

This year the per diem goes to 80% of $52.00 per day in the contiguous US.

 

Yeah, that's what I was going to say too.

It is now $ 52 dollars a day allowed,,, unless you retained all your meal receipts., that add up more.

 

There are several TurboTax packages, does anyone know which one handles the specifics of the trucker per diem in a simple way? Or, if not, how do I enter my per diem into the Turbo Tax program so the program can correctly calculate my return.

 

Are you a company driver, or owner operator or lease owner?

 

I think many truckers using any tax program or tax preparer at the end of the year are missing out on a lot . You need to find a good tax professional at the beginning of the year to advise you how to take advantage of available deductions and credits .
To have Turbo Tax calculate your per diem deduction you need to know how many eligible days you have . You must be gone the whole day to claim per diem . For example , if you get a weekend restart and start out at noon on Sunday you cannot claim per diem for Sunday . The program will then ask if you were reimbursed for any of that expense . Most carriers will underpay per diem because they can be penalized for overpaying it .