Millis specific Per Diem vs Non

I took per diem. i like the extra vacation and other bonuses. I also like the more money on my paycheck.

 

well giving bonuses puts a whole different spin on it...what are they specifically, and what are they worth financially? generally speaking, per diem in and of itself is not a good choice, because the government already allows for meal allowance deduction. most always an otr driver that works 300 days a year or better can get a better deal by not taking it, but that doesnt take into account any financial incentive (like vacation or such) that you get only by taking it. i can easily run the numbers for an average otr driver if i knew what the bonuses were worth.

 

Also took per diem, also a family of 4......I wanted the vacation, bonuses and can care less what it "looks" like I make. For the record home loan or car loan lenders are familiar with per diem and understand, don't know why people still bring that up?

 

well, im assuming a weeks vacation would be 2500ish miles at whatever you are being paid. and each paid holiday would be worth (?) $100? i always figure an average otr driver works 315 days. lets assume for the sake of argument you make 45k household income, and that you buy $750 worth of deductible stuff (tools,warm weather gear, gps, refrigerator, etc). also your cell phone is $100/month. using itemized deductions, assuming you are a renter and thus have no mortgage interest deduction, you would put on schedule a line 21 $16818. line 26 would be 900. line 27 shows your itemized deductions as 15918. not considering the earned income credit, which would be the same in both cases, under itemized deductions you end up owing 1388 in tax for the year. standard is 1819 for the year. so taking per diem for a 45k per year household costs you $431. if the bonuses are worth more than that, then on the surface (not taking into account the reduction in social security and workmans comp benefits) it would be worth it to take the per diem. if the bonuses are worth LESS than $430, it is a bad deal for the 45k per year employee with a household of 4.

this was a rough draft kinda guesstimate, but if one of the things is an extra week of vacation...it wouldn seem to me that that bonus alone is worth more than $430. at 32cpm and 2500 mile average per week, its worth around $800. so i think the per diem is a better deal for millis workers under these terms.

 

I chose per diem and HHG miles. .30 cent for that plus 1 cent for not taking the healthcare. plus bonuses, so after a weeks time as a new driver i average .35 to . 36cent a mile. Thats what i chose.

 

I too am on per diem. Yes as Poker says - there are pro's and con's to being on this. However, I have been able to deduct anything other than food (boot's, cb, cell, gloves, gps,maps, etc) on top of the automatic deductions. It's not a big deal but you need to understand that your pay check stubs and EOY W2's will show a seperate accounting of pay (being reg pay and per diem pay) - add those two together for total income.

Poker - just so you know....we get safety bonuses each quarter that are normally (after taxes) between $450 and $600.00 a quarter and a year end Safety bonus usually around $1300. The extra vacation is only the first year and it's based on $500.00 not an estimated milage as the other two weeks are. Hope that helps if youre wanting more direct numbers.

 

I did not take per diem and chose to claim in at the end of the year on my taxes. I just filed my taxes over the weekend and my per diem deduction came to close to $12,000. That's $12,000 subtracted from my taxable income for the year. Does anyone have a figure from their W2 on per diem to compare? Curious if it's higher or lower than what MILLIS actually paid for per diem.

 

Hello, to everyone I am scheduled to start at the Burleson locationon 3-25-13. I have some of the same questions regarding per diem vs non per diem. My only concern is carrying benefits with Millis for a family killing me going per diem. I would assume going non will pay more a week, but really not sure. I realy just want to be able to go with the best choice to get benefits and still bring a check home.