per diem not allowed since im home everyday ?

You need to be away from home in OTR service or further than 105 miles documented in some way acceptable to the IRS such as log books.

Perdiem is either flat rate for every eligible service day or actual receipts minus a cap each day.

If company pays you perdiem you cannot collect it. You will have to refuse the company perdiem pay.

There is a awful lot of money here in Perdiem when you have enough time of year in number of total days away from home. In 2001 we were 306 days not at home around the USA and canada, our Perdiem came out to 45 a day and just short of 13850 for the year to toss against taxes. But....

We had to keep our actual logbooks to show that evidence a minimum of 7 years as a defense against audit. I think today's per diem allowance is even higher with the flat rate daily away from home at work in your tractor trailer.

 

If you live in the truck, no per diem, as you are never away from home. It has nothing to do with mileages, it starts when you are required to have a rest break away from home due to HOS rules. And the half hour rest before 8 does not qualify.

 

That is a good point.

We had a established house and some land as a primary residence. The truck was both a work place and a dormitory for sleeping. But to IRS our house is residence. Not the truck.

I really should emphasize going to a tax preparer and pay your 50 some dollars for a federal tax form to be properly filled out against the rules of IRS. If you have no residence, no real estate (Essentially homeless) and that truck is your home... Then no perdiem.

 

You can collect it ,but you will have to pay tax on it.

 

And you cannot claim per diem if company pays, Remember they pay you a pittance... about 5 cents a mile and gather in all the days you are away from home potentially across the fleet. If employer claims it for you then no perdiem. You will get paid. But very very very little versus what you can claim yourself at tax time.

 

I did not you could claim it on your taxes, I very clearly said you would have to pay tax on it.

 

I understood you.

If you take pay for perdiem extra above your regular pay, then all is taxable and YOU do NOT claim perdiem for yourself. Your employer claims it.

I am exhibiting the finanical loss that drivers incur when they are tossed a nickel extra for the so called per diem. When they can potentially gather ten thousand or more dollars each year.

 

Is this for O/O or any OTR driver? I will need to look up the tax write off's for truckers. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

 

It's a great deduction for any OTR driver, just save your logs to prove you were away from home.