Tax season

You can claim $63/day per diem. That's only for days on the road so you have to keep track. Likely you didn't do that so you're SOL. One reason to request your e-logs periodically, I believe you can get the last three months. Generally you're SOL. You itemize or take the standard deduction, you don't do both. If itemizing is less than the standard deduction then you take the standard deduction. Without a mortgage most don't meet the threshold to itemize.

 

My CPA last year wrote off 10g for food and entertainment. You can do something like $56 a day when you are otr.

 

As of January 1, 2018 it is no longer possible for company truck drivers to deduct per diem from their federal personal tax returns. The per diem program has not been changed but the new tax law eliminated Form 2106 on which the driver entered their unreimbursed employee business expenses of which per diem was one. The only way for a company driver to get per diem is to have the company pay it (it's still possible for LLCs, Sole Proprietors, S-Corps and C-Corps to take the deduction). If your company does not pay per diem, you are SOL. For the last 10 years I took the deduction on my personal taxes but as of 1 January 2018 I was forced to have Schneider pay me the per diem and that's when I discovered an underpublicized part of the Schneider Per Diem Program. The documentation is the answer to question #13 on the company's Per Diem FAQ document available by request from a driver's DBL. Schneider will pay their company drivers per diem for every day that driver does NOT pass within 50 miles of their "home park location". If a driver passes within 50 miles of their "home park location" said driver is considered to be Time At Home (TAH) and does not get paid per diem EVEN THOUGH THE DRIVER IS NOT AT HOME! Example; a driver is assigned to the Columbus Ohio Operating Center in Obetz. A driver departing Wheeling West Virginia in the morning and drives via I70 to Effingham Illinois where they decide to take their DOT10. Because the driver passed within 50 miles of their "home park location" (Obetz, Ohio) they will NOT be paid per diem and will be considered TAH (for per diem purposes) even though the driver is spending the evening in Effingham Illinois! If you park at Carlisle, PA and pass on I81 or the PA Turnpike or Atlanta, GA and travel on I285/I85/I75/ etc., or Gary, IN and pass through on I80 (you get the idea) you are TAH and NO per diem will be paid for that day. If you don't think this is an issue, think again especially if you spend 300 days OTR. It might be a good idea for you to contact your DBL/Regional Director etc., and apply pressure to have this arbitrary policy changed and make it fair to company drivers. I don't know about you but I don't consider myself at home unless I'm in my master bedroom lying in bed watching Hogan's Heroes on the MeTV channel.

 

I might be wrong on this, tax forms are tax year specific. I suspect you will be able to deduct these items for the 2017 tax year. However this will be the last time. Tax rates are falling some. What you can deduct and the standard deductions are changing. I have told people for the last 6 weeks to make sure they get tax advice and strategies for the 2018 tax year from TAX PROFESSIONALS not Joe six pack sitting in a truck stop!

 

Correct. 2017 is the last year a company driver will be able to deduct employee business expenses on Form 2106 and Schedule A.