Do I really need a home?

you might be tragically thinking that when you get hired, you will stay on with that employer for a long time, but also, you are thinking you are going to be hired right away...what if there is just ONE THING in your past, that will prevent you from being hired on right away..?? maybe there isn't, but then too, you say that you will be going to school in SEPTEMBER..?? by the time you get out, it'll be CLOSE to winter and guess what, many trucking companies slow down as the freight slows down during the winter months....you may not be hired on as fast as you think.

what will you do not IF but WHEN the company sends you home after orientation because they have no trucks or trainers for you...??? do you reasonably think that you can just "crash at" someone's home and make yourself comfortable in the meantime...eat their food, use their electricity, gas and everything else...??? how long do you think that they will allow you to be a "free-loader"..???

what if that trucking company that hired you, cannot get a driver trainer for 1 to 2 months, can you stay at someone's home living for free off of them...??

you had better read some of the stories here that others have said about going home and waiting and waiting for the trucking company to call them and say come on back we now have a truck and trainer for you...

giving up your apartment IS NOT a good idea.....not IF but WHEN you get sent home, you can live in YOUR place and find a part time job to pay the bills till the company calls you back.....that is...if they ever do.....

 

live underneath a bridge!

 

Even better, in a van down by the river!!!

 

bellydumper, that was GOOOD. Thanks for the laugh, made my day.

 

You are a ###### fool if you are an OTR driver and file the standard deduction. EVERYTHING you buy...maps, pens, notepads, gloves, etc. to use for work that is not reimbursed by your employer is a tax write-off...even for a company driver. The IRS also allows for "unreimbursed road expenses".....meals, lodging, etc....to be deducted. For commercial drivers operating under the HOS, it is a fixed amount per day, and your log book is verification of this amount.

In other words, if you stay on the road for 365 days as it sounds like you intend to do, that's 365 times $46...or $16,790. You get to deduct 80% of that...or $13,432 that you get to earn and NOT have included in your adjusted gross income. In other words, that is TAX FREE MONEY! What can you do with an extra $150-$175 (depending upon your tax bracket) in your pocket EVERY MONTH? That's pretty much what you'll be pi$$ing away if you don't keep a tax home.

Add to that all of the other things you WILL buy (maps, gloves, work boots, tire gauge, cooler for the truck, CB, etc......), and you can see where I'm not kidding when I say you're a ###### fool if you only take the standard deduction of $5700 for a single person.

Form 2106
Employee Business Expenses

You don't have to be an owner operator in order to have business expenses. As long as the company does not reimburse you for something you buy that you will use for work, save the receipt because it will likely be able to be written off at the end of the year. Write offs lower your adjusted gross income...which is what is used to calculate how much your tax liability for the year is. Lower AGI = less money paid in taxes = more money in your pocket.

I don't advocate going out and spending money JUST to get another write off...spending a dollar to save 15-20 cents never made much sense to me....but to purposely refuse to deduct something you are already going to buy....or to make a decision which makes you ineligible for a considerable write off that won't cost you a nickle out of your pocket in order to not think of yourself as a "free-loader" is ridiculous. Won't cost you a dime to use your folk's address on your drivers license and claim it as your tax home. They can collect your mail for you and keep it in a box...and you can pick it up when you see them at Christmas (or whenever). You never have to actually set foot in the house during the course of the year...just claim it as your tax home and be able to receive mail there. Since you HAVE to have a permanent address where you can receive mail on your CDL, why pay money for a mail boxes etc. address and lose the deduction when you can use your parent's address and keep the deduction?

Like I said....###### fool if you don't take the deduction.

 

That all depends upon what it will cost you to set up and maintain residency vs. what you will pay in state income taxes. You'll have to figure out what your expected taxable income is going to be and look at what the state tax is for your home state...then divide that by 12 to get the monthly tax savings you would see if you lived in a state with no income tax.

For example, if you have an AGI of $28,000 and the state tax rate is 6%, that is $1680 that you will pay in state income tax for the year....so in this example, unless you could establish and maintain residency for less than $140/month, it wouldn't be beneficial to you.