Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

It's hotel time in that case.

 

Perdiem is listed there as a negative value. Is that the amount I got paid as perdiem?. So am I now providing my paystubs as proof of perdiem not received?. The whole thing just looks like a minefield to me and I am the one that gets blown up, not the IRS.

I would rather keep things as simple as possible, especially when dealing with the federal government. Unfortunately I can't opt out of the Perdiem program, so I will just have to live with unclaimed expenses and lower than actual reported income.

 

That's how I read it.. *not actual but simple explanation.. paystub says earned $40k, perdiem minused out $10k, w-2 says earned $30k and that's what was taxed.*

I asked Dennis about this when I hired on, and (like you) found Abilene's perdiem program isn't optional.

So what I'm inferring from the board is that we probably shouldn't be itemizing additional expenses?

Last frustration is that I didn't realize my state taxes weren't withheld... grrrrr...

 

All I know about the taxes is, I always had to pay state because I didn't live in VA. But I always got back on my federal.

I know I'm late on this, but I seen we lost a fellow driver the other day. Prayers for his family.

@ExtremeUnction , get all them batteries replaced. Mine did the same. Once batteries were changed, it stopped. It actually seemed stronger than before when It was working but maybe that's because I like you was freezing for so long.

 

Reading elsewhere on the forum, you can still itemize and claim unpaid perdiem. I just want to avoid complicating things and to me, claiming some, but not all days out (because I already got paid for some of them) then having to explain all that to a potential auditor is more trouble than its worth.

 

With respect to the per diem, it's just a situation where they're paying you income but not actually withholding taxes, right?

 

Sounds like the easiest solution there is to have them withhold extra taxes over and above what they normally would...

 

No. Easy solution is to keep track of every night you're gone. Then you also keep track of every day you arrive home. It's way easier than it sounds. I bought a little spiral planner at Walmart for a few bucks. Total everything up at the end of the year and give it to your tax professional. They can take it from there.

For every night you spend away from home, you are eligible to collect the whole per diem amount the govt allows less what Abilene gives you. On your days where you arrive home, you are eligible for half the allowance. In your case that should add up to a fairly decent deduction.