I did not save all the recipts from 2007 I have a lot but not all. In order to claim food and everything do i need all recipts just in case i get audited?? Do I claim only what I can represent in recipts??

I hear you can claim sattelite radio,cb,laptop computer all clothing, food etc......

I read that truck drivers can claim $54.00 for everyday on the road. I take it you would need recipts to do this. :?:

 

if you are a company driver you claim the basic deduction. about $54/day. no reciepts are needed for this deduction. it covers meals ect. if you claim other stuff like radio, work cloths or anything else truck related. it has to average out over the year to be more than the standard deduction. at least this is what my accountant the last few years told me when i was a company driver. just keep a record of your home time, you don't get dduction when you are at home. i used a calander and marked each whole day i was home. if i did any driving comercially i did't count it as home time.

 

You may want to keep your log books to prove where you were should you get audited. You can only claim those days that you were on the road. Another thing you may want to consider is using a debit or credit card for your expenses while on the road. Most will give you a monthly printout of your charges and help document your time away from home.

 

You have to claim them on Schedule A and you can only write off a % of them. Sometimes you're better taking the standard deduction instead of itemizing. Tax software is supposed to figure out which is better for you.


Bottom line is if you rent and are a company driver you get screwed on taxes.

 

So are you saying that if I work my shift at ABF as a driver since its commercial driving I could claim it or get a 54.00 credit per day???

 

Any day you are away from your home more than 24 hours can be claimed and the $54 per diem used (I thought it was $52 but could be wrong)

 

Its not a credit its a deduction and primarily for OTR drivers, not local drivers. And as someone pointed out, if you dont itemize (schedule A) you're probablt better off with the standard deduction anyway.

 

So the way I see it, I was away from home about 200 days last year and that equals $10800 in deductions right off the top of my adjusted gross income?

 

I was just listening to a CPA that specializes in Trucking on Sirius, he said that you don't have to be away from home 24 hours, that you only had to be away long enough to require all meals to be eaten away from home to need your daily break to claim it.

Also, you know our good IRS, they allow $52 a day for per deim but you can only deduct 75% of that off your gross.

I'll be contacting a CPA for sure

 

What I did was keep all of my log books and my reciepts from everything and turned them into the local trucker tax person... Someone that actually deals or has dealt with truckers in the past. Last year I got $3200 back.