Perdiem
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From the IRS Rules pertaining to Per Diem & Deductions for Transportation Industry workers.
In order to take/be paid Per Diem - you must have an ACTUAL HOME (that you pay rent for, etc.). The deduction is designed for people whose job takes them AWAY from home, to allow them a deduction for meals and miscellaneous expenses incurred when away from that home.
The rules also state that trucking companies CANNOT PAY on a Per Diem basis, to a driver that actually doesn't have a legal tax home. If you are paid and/or take the deduction, and DO NOT HAVE a "legal tax home" - and the IRS audits you - they will DISALLOW the deduction - and you will be liable for the taxes on the ENTIRE AMOUNT (the amount paid in advance, plus the additional deduction). The IRS Rule also provides for penalties for a company that pays Per Diem, when the employee is not actually entitled to it - which amounts to the amount of Per Diem, the taxes that would have been owed, plus a penalty.
This was all revealed in the last major discussion we had - when the member who is an accountant, filled in some blanks for me/us.
There was an example in that discussion, of a driver that had his deduction disallowed, because he couldn't prove an actual tax home. What "red flagged" him for an audit was - he was homeless OTR , and took 345 days of Per Diem. Since the IRS knows that we typically get 1 day home, for every week on the road - in theory - 11 months of OTR should net you 44 days of home time - so the max days you should be deducting would be 321.
In a nutshell - if you don't have a "legal tax home", you cannot take the pay or the deduction.
Rick
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.