And you are a qualified Attorney that is well versed in Tax Law? Or a CPA?

 

More like a major in trucker tax law from the CB school of trucker math with a minor from the lunch counter law school.:lol:

 

you are way off . You aren't ( from what you have stated) qualified to bring your 2106 to line 24 of the 1040. "being successful" might mean you haven't been audited or rejected by the IRS but still doesn't mean you filed correctly. You didn't.

 

Wow, some fairly hostile challenges here. I'm not claiming to be a tax expert of any kind, as ANY
reading of my original posts would reveal. Did any of you skeptics even bother to do so?

Dobry4u, it is rather naive' to believe only "reservists, performing artists," etc. are eligible to
use Line 24. Do you really think the IRS lists all eligible parties on a single line? Read a Lasser's
manual. That source is in agreement with IRS policies, just as HR Block manuals are, and
happens to be the one I use.

The reservists and performing artists ARE listed as eligible parties on Form 2106EZ...on Line 6.

But "employees subject to DOT hours of service limits" -- OTR truckers -- are specifically
listed as eligible on Line 5 of this very same form! Again -- did you read it?

Read Form 2106EZ itself. AGAIN, as I originally wrote, that very form lists other eligible parties
(transportation industry workers limited by HOS rules, etc.) and alsospecifically mentions
the $52/day meal allowance and the 80% limit!

Now, why in the world would Form 2106EZ list these things if only "reservists & performing artists"
were allowed to use it?

So please cool your skepticism until you read everthing; your responses lead me to believe you
have not. I'm not some know-it-all trying to impress anyone with bogus tax preparation methods
here; I am trying to help folks out. You might save yourself some money IF you can't
itemize but want to take the meal-allowance deduction anyway.

Please note my original post is a query to Rev Vassago, not a lecture on tax deductions.
I'm not qualified, true.

As far as you thinking I slipped under the IRS radar on this....no, I did not. My 2007 return was
recently examined because the IRS wanted to tax $26K I had withdrawn from a Legacy Treasury
Direct account that year, after losing my job in the auto industry. But they didn't get a dime and
closed the exam, because I was able to prove that the money was entirely after-tax
money (meaning it was ALREADY taxed when received in 1997 thru 2006, and was not in a tax-
advantaged account such as an IRA). It pays to keep good records....and of course the Federal
employees at Legacy Treasury Direct were able to confirm the status of the account. Withdrawing
the cash was not a taxable event, just as withdrawing money from a bank savings
account isn't taxed. The IRS's little fishing-expedition netted them nothing.

And by the way, an "exam" is not a full-fledged audit, although it can lead to one. THIS one
never made it past the polite-letter stage.

My point?....about the exam? Simply that my Line 24 listing of my Form 2106EZ deductions
(50% of the standard $39 per day for 225 days in Utah) never raised an IRS eyebrow
....nor should it have. It's legal.

Kindly SHOW ME where the IRS states I can't bring my Form 2106EZ deductions to Line 24. And
don't repeat that "reservists, performing artists, etc." mantra. Yes, the rules are VAGUE on this,
which is why you believe I'm wrong. But this method is used widely in the technical-services
industry by engineers and designers like myself to deduct motel, transportation and meal costs
(at the 50% of $39 rate mentioned above) when working out-of-state for less than one year
....another limitation I forgot to mention previously.

So in conclusion, please don't be offended because I implied you're naive....I apologize if you
resent that. I simply think you're accepting the intentionally vague IRS pronouncements about
these rules at face value....and we all know who's side THEY are on, right? :thumbsup:

 

No sir. Never claimed to be; and if anyone can prove I am wrong, I'd appreciate it and I mean
that sincerely! I'm not looking for any fights with the IRS, that's for sure, nor with anyone on
this forum. I'm just trying to help.

And of course no one here has to listen to me either. If you aren't comfortable with this
approach to taking the meal-allowance deduction, by all means don't.

Frankly I'm still confused about the circumstance involving when an employer pays you tax-
free per diem, having not dealt with it before. So I'm about as far from a "qualified attorney",
well versed or otherwise, as can be.

But somehow, I get the distinct impression your question(s) were in fact, rhetorical.

 

Just a suggestion, you might want to ask dobry4u what her qualifications are before you dismiss her answer so quickly.

 

No it is not.

You are giving tax advise to people. We have no clue as to what your true knowledge is.

Just because you may have survived an encounter with the IRS does not give you any claim to having special knowledge in an area.

The way I am interpreting your post is that is in fact what you are using to base your advise.

 

I've never itemized when taking the deduction. I get my logbooks out and add up the days spent away from the house and do it like that. A couple of different CPA's never had a problem with that. Also, you can take the standard amount or higher amounts depending on where you spent the night. Example: if you log an overnight in NYC the per diem amount jumps over $100. I took to stopping near cities for the night to get the higher deduction. I just wrote them down for the year off of my logs, figured the total amount and used that saving my logbooks in case of an audit to prove I spent the night there.

In response to dle: I am not a tax lawyer or CPA. This is just my experience and where taxes are concerned I would never advise someone to do what I do. Get a CPA knowledgeable about the trucking industry or per diem rates and follow their advice.

 

Jonp wasn't targeted toward you - sorry if it sounded like that.

It was targeted toward the OP.

 

We have done several clients this way. We go through the process of figuring out the per diem for the client, and it still is better to go with the standard deduction. They went to the trouble of bringing in all of their info, so that's the least we could do. They probably think that they are getting the per diem when in fact, they are not because the standard deduction is greater. This, mind you, is on Schedule A not Schedule C (self-employed).

Correct. It is always a good idea to check the current tables. They even can change rates mid year.

Why don't you read the IRS instructions that go with the form.



http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2106.pdf (page one notes, it can't get any clearer).

and the 1040 instructions http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf (page 29 first paragraph, can't get any clearer).