What can a company driver deduct?

I believe your entitled to the $59.00 per day per diem for food as long as you are driving a truck, and have a domicile for tax purposes. You can deduct 80% of the fee. You have to either have to file this way or keep your receipts. With $59.00 per day filing, you don't have to turn in receipts.Anything used in your business is deductable. You can only deduct 50% on cell phones, as the IRS knows we use them for personal use. Check with a CPA to be sure about anything. Hope this helps

 

Per diem for your taxes is set by the Feds. Per diem paid to you by your company may vary, there is no set rate they have to pay you.
Per diem can be calculated two ways. You keep track of every major city or region you travel thru each day, look the rate up on the federal website for deductions or take the standard $59.00 daily deduction. Most take the daily standard decuction much easier. IF you have a route thru a higher deduction area that may be easy, with a bigger deduction for you.

 

A calendar or diary works to keep track of days.
Proof in case of an audit, can be provided by credit/debit card statements.

Any day in which you are at work for part of it, counts as a 3/4 day.

Add full days, 3/4 days together, multiply by $59, and enter on form (2106? - unreimbursed employee expenses)

Add all other receipts - just as the form describes- ANYTHING you use to do your job the employer does not provide - and enter.

XM subs. 100% of cell phone. Atlas. Tire thumper. Gloves. CB. Paper towels. Plastic forks.

Food is NOT covered.

Done it this way for years. No audit. $4k-$6k return EACH, each year.

 

Sir you are asking a question that has many incoming angles/circumstances/risk:
#1. Always turn down/OPT OUT of any company offering per diem pay: I have been known to walk out of orientations held by companies who will lie about per diem(despite my questionnaire also posted on this site), just to get you in to their orientation.
2. Other companies will charge you a additional administrative fee just to process this per diem on a weekly basis and when asked, often hide this fee!
3. On paper, you will show $30 - $50 more per week on your pay settlement but it will kill you (administratively) in the long run.... Please find yourself a CPA; A.S.A.P!
4. Filing at end of the year and then having your CPA do the per diem deduction(s) based off of your log books and the current FED $55 - $59PER DAY(hotel stays are even higher! you want to save these logs Sir!).
5. You will be better off in the long run in this manner. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS *YOU WILL GET MORE MONEY PER WEEK SCAM!
Again, it is absolutely necessary you find that CPA A.S.A.P! and do aimhigh..........

 

Yes, turn it down (ask to OPT OUT) and be forceful. Many companies love lumping drivers into one category (the idiot grouping) and this is a mistake. I don't like lumps!

Second, you are responsible for copying logs to your email (Safety should explain this to you): It's a easy process. Sorry for my late response......... aim high

 

I'm on qualcomm electric logs, a couple times a year I download them to a USB card and my hard drive.
After 6 months, they are deleted by my company and Qualcomm.

So, it's up to me to be sure I have copies, if the IRS ever wants to audit me.

 

I realize this thread is a few months old, but I'll chime in and add my $.02.

The IRS no longer refers to it as a per diem. It is now classified as a "meal allowance". Many companies still call it a per diem. A "meal allowance" means meals and incidentals. (Incidentals are tips/gratuities, non-reimbursed travel expenses to/from, vending machine purchases, etc. Even your morning java and doughnuts are included). In order to qualify you have to a) be regulated by the HOS regulations b) be required to spend time away from your residence c) have a fixed address as a residence. I know a Landstar husband/wife team who have one of those mega-sleeper mini RV sized trucks and don't have a home or a home address...and are not allowed to take the deduction because they are technically home every time they take 2 steps behind the cab seats. It is still 80% of $59 for every full day you are required to be away from home. (Or 1/2 of that for partial days). No receipts needed, just your log book. This does not include non-reimbursed motel/hotel stays. That is the difference between per diem and the meal allowance. Traveling salesmen, service technicians or other types of employment are still under the per diem guidelines...which ends up being a lower percentage of money spent that is deductible.

As for what is and isn't a deduction...it is defined as: anything reasonable and necessary for you to do your job. If your company requires uniforms but doesn't provide them, or reimburse the cost of them...deduction. You need steel toe safety shoes...same deal, as long as you aren't buying $2500 snake skin steel toed boots, it's allowed. The IRS will even allow occasional motel/hotel stays for drivers of sleeper birth equipped trucks. Deductions for big ticket items like paying full price for your cell phone, a computer etc. can be depreciated across several years of returns since their life expectancy exceeds a single tax year. And they only allow a certain number of deductions for these items...as in, you can't deduct a new phone or computer every year even if you're like me and have a bad habit of breaking or losing a smart phone on a regular basis.

I personally deduct my cell bill for both my wife and myself (they consider a certain amount of personal usage as necessary...when I had a cellular air card for my laptop it was also deducted). ATM fee's, Comdata charges (check cashing and card usage if necessary)...anything reasonable and necessary to do this job (only keep your receipts for everything except meals, no matter how small, it all adds up)

My current company doesn't have an opt out on their version of per diem. And it is going to make my taxes a lot more complicated because they deduct the $59 per day from your taxable income, but only on days you are under dispatch. There are many times I am out for 6 weeks but they only show 34 or 35 days on the per diem....which means I have to calculate my total days out, subtract the amount they show on the per diem, then deduct 80% of the remainder...they also reimburse $50/month for cell phone usage. So, I have to total up my cell phone bills and subtract the $600 they reimbursed me...

All this info came from listening to Kevin Rutherford's XM radio show when I use to subscribe to that service