W2 Per Diem? Mega vs Small

I am not sure where to put this, but I was wondering if any company driver ran in to the same thing. I worked for a mega carrier for 6 years, and every year they would send me w2 with per diem on it. It was always on the other box. I switched to smaller company, paid .70cpm and checks would be insane, cause of per diem. But they do not show it on w2 like the mega carrier would. I am so confused now, it shows that I have to pay back. Was wondering if I have to hire an account?

 

If you are confused, an accountant would be a wise choice.

 

Sample: line one on the W2 says 22983.16 and that's what gets put on line one on the 1040.

 

I don't know how the per diem thing works. But it's no longer tax deductible.

My guess is company shifting the burden of taxes to the employee.

 

If it's no longer tax deductible, that just means the government is using less lube than they used to

 

W2 employees haven’t been able to deduct non-reimbursed business expenses for a few years now, like the meal allowance.

Companies can still pay employees part of their pay as a per diem which will lower the tax burden for both parties. The bad part for the employee is although it lowers their taxes it makes it harder to get loans and mortgages because on paper it appears you make less money.

 

It also lowers FICA payouts, and usually comes with a "charge" from the employer.

Very few employer per diem programs actually put more money in the employee's pocket when all is said and done. Short term, sure, but overall it's a wash at best and usually $1,000 hit each year.

 

Not necessarily. Working on a construction loan to mortgage package. All I had to do was supply pay stubbs, especially year end stubbs for past two years. They verified that the other stubb data matched W2. Then used that amount to get me qualified.

If your loan officer can’t or won’t do the same find someone who will. I shopped around before I settled with the one I’m using. Except for one person everyone else I talked to said they would do the same.

 

Some underwriters get a little squirrly when they see non traditional pay methods for blue collar workers.

 

Exactly. That’s why it pays to shop around.