Please Explain Per Diem
Topic 15686 | Page 2
I'd be careful with per diem pay doing line-haul.
If you are only out for a 100 days a year - but are still doing 2,500-3K miles per week that you are getting paid per diem - you may not have enough "days out" to offset the tax liability created by the un-taxed per diem pay.
Personally - I wouldn't take the per diem pay if the company allowed me to opt out under ANY circumstance - but certainly not, if I wasn't sure I was going to have enough days out, to offset the tax liability.
Rick
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
I would talk to an accountant or tax preparer. Everyone's situation can be a little different. Schneider makes new drivers take the per diem in each check for I believe 3 or 6 months, they charge like 1 1/2 to 2 cents for doing that. I opted out at the end of last year, but my tax preparer doesn't think I will benefit that much or at all by going that route. I guess I will see come April.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
Rick S. suggest:
But be sure you keep copies of your LOGS - to prove "days out". You will need these if you are ever audited.
Swift does that on your check stub:
TRAVEL ALLOWANCE: UNIT # ORDER NO DATE PAY TYPE MILES RATE EARNINGS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
162535 NT11343 01 07/20/16 DIEM 01 PER DIEM 477 .0850 40.55
162535 NT49687 01 07/21/16 DIEM 01 PER DIEM 470 .0850 39.95
Bravo Zulu asks:
Am I correct that this could affect any future social security, unemployment, and disability payments as well?
Anchorman gave you the long answer. For the things you asked about Short Answer is Yes.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay
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Thanks everyone for the input. This being my first year in trucking, just trying to get an idea. Typically I do my own taxes and always use 1040A and Schedule A. This year I may pay someone to do them.
With line haul I'm typically only ever gone from home one night at a time on "bed runs". In no way will I be able to claim 300 days but 8-10 nights a month is good with me to be gone from home. Any bit helps come tax time. I know my company does not do anything with our pay for per diem. We just hold onto our logs, yes they still use paper logs, for easy calculating come tax time.
Line Haul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay