Maybe my hubby takes a couple of extra days off to spend with his other family and I'm figuring he's driving. (just kidding)
I have a friend, (her husband drives also) that her husband always has to leave a full day early to get to work that's only 45 minutes away. (she often wonders why?) Again thanx, lots of good info |
Let's do a little figuring/ and look at it this way.
You're allowed 52.00 a day (per diem) x number of days you were away from home. ( or if you want to do it the hard way- there's a table with zip codes- and an actual different rate for different areas of the country) YES- YOU NEED TO SAVE THE LOG BOOKS- in case of an audit. 52.00x number days on road= x but then you can only claim 75% of that this year? So, your company may be paying a .10cpm per diem--based on 400miles a day production= 2800miles a week. Sound about right? So that's $40.00 a day per diem------which is about 75% of 52.00 a day. Now, they are not going to pay YOU out more than THEY can write off themselves. So, you take the $40.00 untaxed per diem--- -This is were we disagree---and if you can go ahead and "write off the extra" I might look back into per diem paying companies. According to your plan--you take the $12.00 unpaid x (320days year average OTR)=$3840.00x 75%(again)=$2880 dollar write off????????? I think the problem is when you turn in the Estimate Meal Expense form along with your W-2 from Company X---my fear would be that IRS knows which companies are claiming that Tax deduction in your place. Now, by all means if a company is going to pay you a .15cpm or .20cpm per diem( Poly-Trucking for 1) then certainly Take the money and either eat steak every night; or PB&J sandwitches and bank the extra cash money--and like Copperhead said---let the company worry about not getting that extra money back from IRS. Example: .20cmp X 400=$80 a day----that's twice what you could actually write off yourself($52.00x.75=39.00) I'm betting the only reason they are gonna pony up the extra untaxed cash --is they are being more fare to you considering this Per Diem is really helping THEM out in so many other areas of accounting. |
Some accurate information, some inaccurate... must be a message board. Anyhow, here goes nothing...
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I've linked a pdf from the IRS ruling below. It addresses this exact issue, going as far as using a trucking company in the example. A little light reading for you guys tonight. If you receive per diem payments (considered reimbursements which is why they are not taxable) in excess of the $52 daily limit, you are obligated to repay the excess to your employer. In the absence of a system by which you repay the excess, your employer is required to treat the excess as wages. If a pattern of abuse (explained in the linked pdf) is established, you are on the hook for the entire amount as wages, not just the excess. As Copperhead suggests, they would likely come after the employer. That being said, I have a friend who drove a cab. While not under this exact rule, a similar issue came up regarding untaxed wages vs. expenses. The cab company got hit hard, but the drivers had to pay back taxes on all of the untaxed income. That's 'dollar one' taxes, as in SSI, income tax, the whole kit and kaboodle. Just something to keep in mind. |
:lol:
This thread is becoming comical. |
Way to go Vito---nice light reading--love it when people bring facts to the table...
So, now after reading all that......did we determine if you can take the CASH and then deduct the balance unpaid....but on good days(like when we run 650milesx.10cmp) 'loose track of the excess paid'. Because after reading all that---I still came to the conclusion that as long as the Carrier doesn't 'attract' the attention of IRS by "abuse"- the whole thing remains---in the 'non-accountable' ledger....the driver only gets screwed big time if the company is found 'abusing' the law....then all that untaxed allowance--ends up STUCK UP YOUR ASS at the end of the year as ----wages----wages that no tax had been withheld from all year----Leaving you with a big TAX DEBT and back to square one- filing the STANDARD MEAL Allowance yourself---and trying to scrape together ALL the receipts you can find for other expenses. |
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