Gross YTD And Per Diem

How does per diem pay factor into YTD Gross? My current YTD gross is $34,527. My per diem shows $14,304.

Why? If you’re concerned about taxes, the per diem amount won’t be included as income for purposes of income tax. Your W-2 from Schneider will separate them. If you’re trying to determine how much money you got paid, add the two amounts together and that’s a more realistic picture of your earnings (in addition to any accessory pay like layover, breakdown and detention pays).

I’m not a tax expert, but I hope this helps.

Have you done a search on Per Diem? It's one of those Hot Topics here.

Basically your company takes a certain amount per mile from your gross pay, and returns a (smaller) amount as Per Diem.

Your W-2 pay is reduced by the amount taken out (which may affect your Social Security account, too.) and the Per Diem pay is considered non-income travel expense. Legally you must not be at home on a day you receive Per Diem, but your company will probably not keep track of that. If you itemize or don't itemize income tax, the deduction happens on your paycheck, and you do not need to account for it on your tax forms.

I understand that if your wages get garnished, the part taken out to make the Per Diem is taken before any garnishing happens.

You may get the popcorn out and be ready, now.
(Standard "I'm not a tax professional" disclaimer)

Here's a ton of information on Per Diem Pay For Truck Drivers

The major thing about per diem , is it reduces your taxable income. Because the amount of per diem is not taxed, it will negatively affect any fica/social security withholding, i.e. your earnings reported to social security will be reduced by the amount of the per diem.

Another consideration is if you're going to apply/obtain a loan for a big ticket item like a mortgage or auto loan, many (but not all) lenders will not consider any per diem as income when approving loans.

I do utilize a combination of per diem, an FSA medical account, and 401k contributions to almost completely eliminate my tax liability. My company still withholds the crap out of my pay and despite the tax planning to try to minimize any annual IRS refund, I still get back quite a big chunk at tax time. I hate giving the feds an interest free loan and hopefully I have it tightened up a little better for 2017.

Anywho, today I bought a new pickup. In my case, the lender did actually consider my per diem as income. They did it because I provided them with detailed pay statements showing everything, instead of just supplying check stubs or my 1040. So your mileage may vary on whether a lender will consider per diem. If they balk, just give them detailed pay statements which shows exactly how any pay/tax withholding is calculated and they'll often consider it.

If you're younger (I'm 55) and haven't yet earned a substantial income in your lifetime, be sure to do some retirement planning, (401k,,ira , annuities, etc.) because social security pensions, as previous generations have known it, probably won't exist much longer and that reduced reporting to social security, would negatively impact you. Me? I've made a relatively high income most of my life and am already maxed out on any social security I'll receive, so I could honestly care less about the reduced income reporting.

Talk to a qualified tax/financial planner to help you better understand how it works.

The answer below is slightly inaccurate - the accessorial pay will be included in the income portion - it isn't unaccounted for. Your total income is the sum of the per diem pay and the "gross" income. There will likely be another total showing "taxable" income - the taxable income differs from gross income for those who have 401k deductions and/or pre-tax medical insurance co-pays, FSA account deductions, or child care account deductions (for companies that offer those items).

Also, regarding per diem, if you want to do a little more work and maybe save some money on your income tax deduction, you may find that the actual allowable per diem deduction may be greater than the per diem pay. The IRS publishes a figure each year specifiying the allowable amount. For this year, it is $63. If you take all of your days away from home this year and multiply by $63, you may find that your allowable amount is greater than what your company offered in per diem pay - if so, you can deduct that difference. Consult your tax professional for all the proper info...I'm not a tax pro, I'm just a guy who doesn't want to pay any more tax than legally obligated to pay.

Why? If you’re concerned about taxes, the per diem amount won’t be included as income for purposes of income tax. Your W-2 from Schneider will separate them. If you’re trying to determine how much money you got paid, add the two amounts together and that’s a more realistic picture of your earnings (in addition to any accessory pay like layover, breakdown and detention pays).

I’m not a tax expert, but I hope this helps.

How does per diem pay factor into YTD Gross? My current YTD gross is $34,527. My per diem shows $14,304.

Simple answer is add the two together and that’s what you earned for the year.

How does per diem pay factor into YTD Gross? My current YTD gross is $34,527. My per diem shows $14,304.

Simple answer is add the two together and that’s what you earned for the year.

That's essentially what I was looking for!