Truck Driver - Terminal out-of-State

[Gretel]

If the main terminal for an interstate truck driver is in another state then this is his tax home. By the same token this also makes him a non-resident required to file a non-resident tax return, right?

[taxea]

Does he go to the main terminal to start his workday? Does the company have an office in his state? Which state appears on the W-2 for withholding? If he doesn't maintain a residence in the other state how can that be his home state?

[gkaiseril]

See Pub 463, http://www.irs.gov/app/vita/globalmedia/p463.pdf , for the difference between tax home and family residence. State taxes will require an understanding the 2 states involved and if there is a wage reciprocity agreement between the 2 states.

[ChEAr$]

If the main terminal for an interstate truck driver is in another state then this is his tax home. By the same token this also makes him a non-resident required to file a non-resident tax return, right?

No. A certain act of congress back in the 1980's, called the Amtrak law, provides
that transportation workers including truckers are taxed solely in their home state;
not by virtue of their main terminal being located in Tennessee (for example, since
many trucking companies are located there for income tax purposes.

[Gretel]

No. A certain act of congress back in the 1980's, called the Amtrak law, provides
that transportation workers including truckers are taxed solely in their home state;
not by virtue of their main terminal being located in Tennessee (for example, since
many trucking companies are located there for income tax purposes.

That is great news. I was wondering what difference it makes if he lives in MT and drives for a MT company all over the US or drives for KS company.

[Gretel]

No. A certain act of congress back in the 1980's, called the Amtrak law, provides
that transportation workers including truckers are taxed solely in their home state;
not by virtue of their main terminal being located in Tennessee (for example, since
many trucking companies are located there for income tax purposes.

I tried to find more info on the Internet but could not. On second thought, when you talk about home state, do you mean the state where the truck driver lives or his tax home state?

[Gretel]

Clarification: My truck driver is self-employed and drives through all the states. I understand that his tax home is Kansas and not Montana and concluded that then he needs to file a non-resident tax return in Kansas.

[gkaiseril]

The trucker pays taxes in state where he and his family live, but his business travel expenses are computed and start from the truck terminal. This distance from his residence to the terminal is commuting.

[Jesse]

This came from Oregon.gov

I didn't read it in it's entirety but it may be worth researching.

https://secure.dor.state.or.us/piti/index.cfm?action=topic&id=0039

The Amtrak Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 1990, Public Law 101-322, prohibits states and local governments from taxing compensation of certain nonresident employees who have regularly assigned duties in more than one state.

[Gretel]

Thank you so much, Jesse. Great find that helped me find the original law. It indeed seems to indicate that it is the driver's residence state that determines taxation and not his tax home.