Hi there. I was previously with central from october-end of december. I didn't get any per diem pay during that time, so now on taxes should I claim my days outx$52x75%? If so, do I include training time in those days, or only solo-driver time? are my logbooks enough for proof?

I'm now at another company which pays 8 cents per mile as per diem pay, not taxed, so that my total per mile pay is 31 cents. how do I calculate whether that is within federal limits to avoid problems with taxes next year? in this case would it be better to continue with the per diem or ask them to take that off?

thanks!

 

Question 1: Yes you may claim all your days away from your tax home, including time spent during OTJ training.

Also, yes, your log books are enough proof enough. Be sure to keep them until there is no longer any chance of an audit.

Question 2: I have no idea about this one.

 

There's no real way to figure that up to see if it will be good for you or not unless you know how many miles you will run. If you're running an average of 2500 miles/week @ 8 cpm this would be $10,400 per year in per diem pay. Say you're running a 11 day on/3 day off schedule. This could give you 286 days per year that you could claim the $39 deduction or $11,154 for the year. In reality, you can take the 8 cents upfront and still have $754 that you were not reimbursed to write off your taxes. This is just one possible scenario.

Per diem has been hashed over a million times on this forum. It works for me and some others, but there are also many people that it doesn't work for. Bottom line is that you really need to talk with a CPA who is familiar with your exact situation to determine if it will work for you or not.

 

Uturn is only partially correct. You can only claim the full 75% of $52 for FULL days you are away from your tax home. That means you cannot claim the full deduction for days you leave home, or days you arrive home. Most tax professionals that deal with truckers have their own way of calculating the partial deduction. My accountant uses 75% of the "75% of $52".

It should be fairly easy. Calculate how many paid miles you have, and multiply times $0.08. Divide by the amount of full days you were out on the road, and if it is greater than $52, then you must show the excess as income. If it is less than $52, then you still have some of the meal deduction available to you.

It depends. What do they pay per mile if you aren't taking the per diem pay?