ATBS has this downloadable calendar available on its website to help truck operators keep track of their per diem eligible days. Click here to download it.Truck operators starting Oct. 1 will be able to deduct up to $4 more a day from their yearly income for meal expenses. A change in IRS rules that goes into effect that day raises truckers’ per diem meal expense rates to $63 a day, up from the current $59 mark.
IRS rules allow drivers to deduce 80 percent of that rate from their income each year. The increased per diem allowance gives truck operators the ability to deduct about $1,200 more annually from their income, including $300 in the 2015 calendar year, if the extra per-diem is taken in the final three months of the year, says owner-operator financial services firm ATBS.
To qualify for the per diem, IRS rules state your work must be away from “your tax home substantially longer” than a normal work day and you must sleep away from your home on the days the per diem is being used, ATBS says.
If you have questions about use of a per diem, which can be used by both company drivers and owner-operators, call ATBS at 866-920-2827.
ATBS partners with Overdrive each year to produce the Partners in Business program.
