Write offs?

hey BURKY, can you tell me how true this is:
the local "block-head" told me today when i did my taxes "the standard deduction is 10K dollars. so if you can't save up that many dollars worth of receipts it isn't beneficial to itemize"

 

Is the per diem your meals deduction?

So you can deduct meals for every you're on the road?

What about if you buy your own food to stock your cooler?

Is that deductible?

thanks

 

Just finished my taxes. Phones and showers are not allowed to be itemized. If you go to HR Block ask for somebody who specializes in doing truckers taxes. Ask them how much the per diem per day is and you should be able to tell if they are qualified. The per diem per day is $52. I was out for 250 days and that came out to $13,000 I believe. They use 70% of that amount which came out to just a little under $10,000. If you dont use per diem youll probably paying money back or getting quite a bit less back.

 

The $52 is an automatic deduction for each day. If you choose to count your own meals receipts then you dont get the $52 but whatever you come up with on your receipts. Its probably much better to just use the $52 they give you. That way you dont have to keep any receipts.

 

yea write off anything associated with the business i write off dog food water hes my security and my xm radio for the weather/trucking news a news paper daily stationary,showers, take the perdeim dont let your company pay you for it becuz its another day like i spent 290 day on da road and @52.00 a day you get a percentage of this make sure you save all receipts and get a cpa or tax person that specializes in trucking ice can be also but cigars or tobacco cant be alcohol cant lol:smt039

 

So from what I read you can't deduct the cell phone as an expense? Don't you use it to contact the dispatcher, shipper, receiver, other business needs? I know I am waiting to get my trucking job to justify a new laptop with mapping software. then I can write it off.

 

What is considered a half-day?? My half days are still quite long !

 

I use the obc (on board computer) for all that.

 

I meant to say that if you just came back to work from time off and you started at 1 am you cant count that day "legally" because you werent on the truck for 24 hours.