questions about per diems?

per diem is intended to cover food and lodging - but can be used for just about anything, really.

Per diem is not something you lose... that is, if it was earned, it's still yours. Not really sure where you are coming from with your question about this, though. Obviously, if you left the company, you won't earn any more per diem with them... but what you did earn will factor into your taxes for the year.

is that what you were asking?

 

huh???????

say you make 30k and have taxes held out on 30k... at the end of the year you you claim meals and truck expenses... lowering your taxable income. you get a huge refund.


now say you make 30k but taxes are taken out of 25k and the other 5k is tax exempt. (sorta) you may owe or have a small refund coming at the end of the year... but basically you have taken your tax refund as you went in the form of per diem.

some like taking per diem from the company and getting the money as they go...

but

insurance, workmans comp, and unemployment are figured on taxable income. supposing something bad happens to you during the year... do you paid benefits based on you were making 30k or based on you were making 25k ??? duh...

also... companies pay a portion of your social security taxes ect ect... so... they want to pay out based on 25k... less out of their pocket. and not based on 30k... more out of their pockets.

for the most part companies want you to take the per diem because it is alot cheaper on them... and !!! it makes your crappiolio wages look bigger even though they are only artificially inflated.

rant rant rant... they're putting the screws to you.

1 advantage... assuming you are a dirtbag trying to hide income for child support...

no your honor, look I only made 25k... not 30k.

 

Per diem can be paid to you by your employer as so much per mile. Or you can claim per diem at the end of the year based on either; (1) the amount of days you were away from your domicile, or (2) itemized receipts for authorized purchases incidental to traveling (food) as part of your job. Now beyond that, you can still claim deductions from your AGI for work related stuff (not incidental to traveling) like a laptop, gloves, etc. But this has nothing to do with per diem. IMHO, I think claiming the standard deduction for perdiem ($52/day?) at the end of the year is the way to go, unusual circumstances not withstanding. Oh yeah, I think it's actually only 75-80% of the $52.

Disclaimer: It's been a long time since I've read/posted on this subject, but like I said, I took part in a lengthy thread along with Mr. Greenjeans (I think his handle was) Hey, Good Luck!