company drivers no more per diem 2018

What is the source for this? i.e can you highlight the text in the bill that says this [yet remains for owner-operaters]? Not trying to argue, just need something hard and "official" because it makes no sense that the added expenses of living on the road are no longer valid for employee truckers and others who work away from home , but are valid for truck owner-ops.

So we can no longer itemize showers, partial cellular plans, non-reimbursed supplies for the truck such as chain bungees, occasional hotel, etc? But an owner op can? Sorry but it makes no sense. I don't care if they "doubled the standard deduction", those who work away from home still have costs that others do not have, so a blue collar worker who works in town gets the added benefit of the extra $12k std. deduction, but for truckers and others [where it's not enough] they are effectively penalized and see the extra deduction quickly eaten away by what we used to be benefitted by? So now, I and hundreds of thousands of others have to think twice before spending money on the road [that the job position that requires constant travel brings about]? How is that good for the economy? Waitresses are going to hate this bill too once the OTR truckers figure out how they're getting shafted, then realize they need to switch to tuna and crackers just to stay even.

F congress and F Trump and F the lame horses they rode in on.

 

And don't tell me "well, just take the employer sponsored cpm per diem cpm". That's a poor way to make up for what was lost in meal allowances and other deductible expenses. There's numerous ways per diem will/can bite the worker later down the road.

No doubt carriers LOVE this tax bill if it makes more suckers sign up for the per diem plan saving them (the employer) 5-15% in payroll taxes [depending] and effective lost wage payouts in event of an OTJ accident. If you have accident or sickness [lost wage] insurance? What number do you think the insurance company is going to use to determine your weekly lost wage supplement?

 

They doubled the standard deduction but took away the personal exemption that is $4,000 per year per person roughly. So my wife and I now have a standard deduction of $24,000 but lost $8,000 in personal exemption so we are now down to a $16,000 deduction. That is lower than all of my deductions last year when OTR including per diem, work expenses, our mortgage and state income taxes are added up.

 

Just to be clear as there still seems some confusion. The 2018 tax law actually doesn't nix per-diem, but rather, how it's deducted:

• O/O or L/P will continue to deduct per-diem on their Schedule C or entity return (1120/1065) as they always have
• Company drivers traditionally deducted per-diem on Form 2106, which flows to line 21 on their personal Schedule A. Line 21 on Schedule A has been removed for 2018-2025, which is what is blocking company drivers from deducting as they traditionally have.

Summary: O/O's or L/P's: no changes. Company W2 drivers: big changes.

 

This is true and correct information. The assumption is that because you are a W-2 employee, you don't have any personal business expenses. This is going to become a big issue for any company driver. I would contact the OOIDA about this and see what, if any, requests have been made to change this.

 

I just completed my tax return for 2017 and my Tax Advisor told me that for 2018 I would not be able to use the per diem unless I was making over a hundred grand per year. The only remedy she recommended was to to withhold certain amount of money from federal and state just so I could break even. She also mentioned that a lot of her clients that are pilots and stewardess or anybody in the transportation industry can no longer use per diem unless they're making over a hundred grand.

 

The real problem here is drivers are going to get wise to the fact that per diem can no longer be used and are going to start looking for local jobs where they can be home every night and they don't have to worry about per diem. How's that going to affect the OTR industry how's that going to affect the Long Haul industry how's that going to affect the driver shortage when there are no more long-haul drivers that are willing to go out without per diem?

 

I would say there are a lot of long time OTR drivers that never claimed the per diem and just filed a 1040EX form.
Look around at them...