Word to the wise, I was "away" from home 340 days in 2010, I know, that sucks. However, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. Any who, I took the $59 per diem on my return. That's a HUGE deduction and red flag for our buddies at the IRS. In addition, I wrote off expenses related to my job, electronics, clothing, shoes, etc.
They recently audited me, however, I had no paper logs (I was on elogs) to "prove" I was out that many days. In addition, at the time, I didn't realize my company purges all electronic logs after 6 mos. In the interim, the IRS sent me a bill demanding $3,800.00!
Here's what I did:
1. Took their demand seriously, and wrote them back as soon as I gathered the info. I needed.
2. Obtained a letter from the company stating that none of my pay in 2010 was per diem.
3. Made copies of every weekly payroll stub and highlighted every single dispatch I was paid for showing I was out of my home base area.
4. Provided credit card statements showing various purchases I made and noted that I was out of my home base where purchases were made, mainly to demonstrate that I was traveling all over the country.
I received a letter today from them and they noted that I didn't owe them anything!
I'm sharing this as a potential warning to those who take large per diem deductions as a company employee. They are searching for $$$ anywhere they can get it. Make sure you keep current on your log print outs if you are on elogs and hold onto them for at least 5 years.
Another word to the wise...
Discussion in 'May Trucking' started by Scooter Jones, Nov 20, 2012.
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well to start you drive 200 days at $59 = $12000 off your gross of say 40000
when looking for a tax preparer find one who is doing other truckers is the first question to ask
my sister will do my taxes for free but knows nothing about the industry as it relates to trucking
if I ever get into real estate again She can do it then
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That's how I thought it worked...but never got a clear answer on it...Always got the run-around, and told it was better to take the $59/day at end of year instead of company per-diem. But they never would tell me what you actually got for it. Had another driver tell me he actually got $59/day extra...so basically he got that as a bonus at the end of the year...not the taxes on that $59 like you explained it.
So now I wonder is the company per-diem a better deal than $59/day at EOY???
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only a competent accountant versed in trucking can answer that question for you
kids, houses , child support , income all come into play
I have more deuctions then income working for a starter company
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