Per Diem Pay Question

You are correct in your question. Also at the end of the year, you won't be allowed to take the $52/day (or whatever the amount is now) deduction for per diem on your tax refund. Between that and all other deductions we truckers are allowed, I've been able to get a refund in the $2,000-3,000 range before I was married without kids.

Also, you won't be paying as much into Social Security, Medicare, etc. Granted that may not be a bad thing since our generation (working adults ages 40 and below) won't see a nickel that we paid into the system.

Per diem pay is a rip off, IMO.

 

the companies i looked at would take .10 a mile from you and will give you .08-.085 back. they are shorting you .015-.02 for you to receive this. you will not be able to claim any other per diem on your taxes. you will be making .25-.26 as a newbie. most places you will not be making .30 until after 4-6 months, sometimes later, after their trainer/mentor period. It may work for some people but i dont see this working for me.

its understandable to want the money now. if you plan on buying anything large (house,car,boat,camper,personnal loan) more than likely it may not happen. you can explain what you did to the loan officer but the computer does not care.

it comes down to- get part of the per diem due you now(and also pay the company for this option) or get it all back later. to each his own i guess.

 

My understanding of it is that you are allowed to deduct the difference between 80% of the maximum allowable per diem deduction based on your days out and what you were paid in per diem. That's assuming you have enough deductions to itemize your tax return.

If your company isn't taking part of that per diem payment as an offset for administrative costs, then aside from the cons that reduced AGI brings it does shield some of your income from taxation.