Per Diem For Company Drivers

Topic 31342 | Page 4

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Harvey C.'s Comment
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I just did a little bit of searching (no cherry picking, wrong time of year for that, LOL) and found this article from a CPA and advisory firm from March 2019 (after tax code changed deductibility of itemized deductions). Please here here if interested.

I did not realize until reading this article that companies can only deduct 80% of the per diem paid to drivers so that explains much of the reason that some companies charge the driver for the benefit of the program (Marten does not charge our son Michael). Drivers who work for companies that charge 2 CPM to the driver (as explained by some drivers) should still benefit because of savings on income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes (except maybe Davy who has business losses to offset his current income). I'm not giving tax advice to anyone, just sharing what I had learned from my own research since older discussions and articles are no longer accurate.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

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

Andrey's Comment
member avatar

I wish the government would step in and make them call it something else.

Actually, some companies do not use "per diem" turn. Roehl has a very similar program, and it is called a "tax free plan" - they pay 12.5c less, and then don't tax 11c.

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

Danny K.'s Comment
member avatar

The only diem that matters out here as far as I go is carpe. The companies just love to tell you how fleece is good for drivers too and just look how that turns out, am I right or am I right?

PackRat's Comment
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The only diem that matters out here as far as I go is carpe. The companies just love to tell you how fleece is good for drivers too and just look how that turns out, am I right or am I right?

How long have you been "out here", Danny K.?

Danny K.'s Comment
member avatar

Just shy of two months solo.

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