Per Diem Tax Question

[typhoonpilot]

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

I use a guy who is very aggressive where this is concerned and will back it up if you happen to get audited. As an example, in 2002 ( the last year I flew in the U.S. ) I had, " Pilot travel costs per OCONUS and CONUS rates " of $10,218 versus " employer provided reimbusements of $4282. One of the good things he does is provide a huge printout of the computation and supporting tax law that goes along with your return so that the flunky who processes it will think twice about questioning it. He won a court ruling a few years ago that allows up to $75.00 per meal deduction with no receipt. Some people actually push it that far, I wouldn't but that is the current limit of the "envelope".

I've used the is guy since 1997. He has become very busy and there is less of the one-on-one chatting we used to do, but the results are what counts. He isn't cheap but he will do the Per Diem computation only if you want for a lower fee.

www.pilotax.com

slightly different from the above pilot tax.


Typhoonpilot

 

[sgwabd]

The best advise i ever received was from my friend Doug who said to use his TAX guy. There are manny passages that will mark your maturity from a young high school kid to professional adult. The obvious ones are moving out of your parent's house, buying furnature, buying sugar and other condiments. The most important is a tax guy. The money spent on a tax guy is pricessless

 

[Gorditas]

Hello,

I have Pilot-TAX do my per-diem and professional deductions for $79 and then put the info that they give me into Turbo Tax. They give you a nice bound summary that should explain everything to the IRS should you get audited. For me this method is the best comprimise of DIY and paying a professional. Turbo Tax takes care of everything else, I personally can't justify paying someone to do what I can do quickly myself on Turbo Tax.

Good luck

 

[Clyde]

Hope this helps

It's that time of year when we all have to calculate our tax returns. I have yet to get the same answer to this. How are you caculating your per diem on your tax return? I know there is a certain per day price in each city that's published on the FAA webiste. I've heard some guys saying it's legal to add around 45$ per day on average on every overnight, then some saying to only deduct the difference from what you are paid, even though the IRS does not know how much per diem we get over the year. Most people say, "Oh my CPA does that, I don't know". Can anybody enlightening me???

Thanks..

There is a place near Dallas called Pro-Diem. Unfortunatley I don't have their address handy, but I've used them in the past. The cost is around $50.00. You send them copies of all of your company pay statements that list cities and per diem and they figure everything out for you, including filling out the tax form for you. The fee is deductible on your taxes too.

Being domestic, here is what I do. I record the sum of the meal purchases for each day in my small logbook. At the end of the year, that amount is compared to the amount I was paid in per diem for the year. Usually, the amount I was paid is less than what I was able to earn. That difference is compared to how much I spent. My CPA can figure out which is more adventageous (how much I spent or I how much difference in earned vs earnable) and uses that figure.

When I flew international, I traveled to 17 different countries in one year. Pro-Diem easily calculated everything I needed based on the per-diem records and time spent in each city around the world. I'll use them again next year when I go back to the international side.

 

[49W]

I'm using Turbotax and was wondering where I enter the deductable per diem. Do I enter it in the job related expenses section?

 

[IanSaw]

It's tricky to find it.