Taxes...

The form number being talked about is Form 2106. As the IRS has not released a list of the forms which will be used to file in 2019, i don't see how it can be promulgated that the deduction is gone. Anything can happen during this year to tweak the tax code.

 

I mashed buttons on Turbotax until I got my $4,000 federal return.

 

I wouldn't exactly call h&r professionals.

The 1 time i TRIED to use them. They wanted to tax me on my entire stock sales. Profit & Loss meant nothing to them. I went somewhere else. They taxed me on profits and used the losses as writeoffs.

So, is the per diem still there to file for last year or is it gone for good?

 

Per diem and travel meals deductions are two different things and should be discussed separately [if you are paid Per Diem from your employer]. But yes, for Tax Year 2017, you can use the Standard Daily Meal Allowance deduction as you have been.

 

The way most carriers implement their Per Diem plan [through a modified cpm plan] is not the way Per Diem plan intent is supposed to work and be implemented, and becomes a net negative for the drivers and a net positive for the carrier.

Per Diem was intended to be added to an employees' normal salary or wages, and neither the employer or the employee would be liable for associated income/payroll taxes, and was intended to help offset the high costs around working away from home.

But many (most) carriers lower the base CPM pay then add on non-taxed Per Diem CPM pay

It should be done as example :

A driver without a Per Diem option is paid 40 cpm all taxed. The employer then decides to provide an additional Per Diem benefit, so the 40 cpm would still be paid all taxed and also agreed to pay $35/day away from home that would be exempted from taxation of either party.

See the difference? They play this "game" with the cpm structure to lower their payroll tax liability that would normally be. And I won't get into the various ways this hurts the driver in the short and long term.

There are a handful of driving jobs that are actually paid this way. (A good and fair cpm rate PLUS so much per day in Per Diem pay). The Per Diem amount/rate [in theory] should or could be negotiated between the employer and employee.

Furthermore, this form of Per Diem (the way it should be) is what most CPA's are familiar with and why they continue to tell truck drivers "sure, take the Per Diem option", not understanding what is going on behind the scenes. They just figure you're working for peanuts. (Which is technically true in too many cases)

 

Considering how most carriers have figured out how to jigger the CPM structure [too create a Per Diem plan] to save them millions in payroll taxes and related unemployment insurance and workers comp premiums, you can see how they are VERY MUCH glad to see this recent tax bill, which will effectively push or sway many drivers into their "Per Diem Plan" trap.

 

I can only speak to CPAs, but in essence, this is true.

I am not a CPA.

Circular 230 Disclosure: Any advice contained in this forum post (including any attachments unless expressly stated otherwise) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for purposes of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on any taxpayer under the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local law provisions.

 

As a former insurance agent and financial advisor it is an SEC federal violation punishable with loss of licences, fines, jail, not to mention lawsuits for any certified practitioner to misrepresent...not mention morally bankrupt...like these United States of Mafia.