Motel expense

[Black Bart]

My guy's a long-haul truck driver -- commutes from Dogpatch to Little Rock and picks up his truck there. Drives off to New York, comes back, and may/may not have another run ready to take. Stays in a Little Rock motel about two nights a week 'cause a run usually comes up in a day or so and it's handier than driving 100 miles home and back again.

Question: Is this deductible travel expense?

He's out of town overnight, but not out of town on the road with a load and "on the job." He's waiting for a job to come up. I'm sort of thinking IRS would view it as for his own convenience rather than a necessary expense.

On the other hand, he's "away from home" (I think).

[Snaggletooth]

If I were King

...I would allow the "deadhead" nights as a deduction if there was an economic reason for staying waiting on business. The cost of driving that thing 100 miles would be probably DOUBLE the cost of just staying put, PLUS the new load may require doubling back, meaning 200 miles!!

[AJsTax]

One of the IRS

most commonly used examples of tax home and travel expenses uses this exact situation.
The town where his terminal is located and he picks up his truck is his TAX home and as such is treated the same as his home for all travel expense purposes. Can I deduct a motel room in the city where I work because I stayed at the office late doing taxes and was too tired to drive the 50 miles home? Nope, Neither can your truck driver.

[Snaggletooth]

Disagree

with AJ unless the town is always Little Rock. (or always ANY town). Little Rock cannot be his tax home unless that it where he is working.

If he "works" (misnomer, actually SLEEPS) in Little Rock Tuesday and Wednesday, then in Dallas Thursday and Alburquerque Friday, and gets home Sunday, and this is his usual routine, then Little Rock is NOT his tax home.

C'mon AJ, you know better....

[Jesse]

Just thinking out loud....

My guy's a long-haul truck driver -- commutes from Dogpatch to Little Rock and picks up his truck there. Drives off to New York, comes back, and may/may not have another run ready to take. Stays in a Little Rock motel about two nights a week 'cause a run usually comes up in a day or so and it's handier than driving 100 miles home and back again.

I'm leaning toward not deductible in this case as his headquarters would be were he parks his truck if this is the only company he works for. He "commutes" from Dogpatch to Little Rock to pick up his truck. Is he an employee or self employed? If employee is this for the convenience of the employer? If self employed does he have duties he performs in a home office? Is there no need for a home office because this is the one and only company he drives for and the company handles all the paper work?

I think you need to look at more of the facts and circumstances.

[Gene V]

My guy's a long-haul truck driver -- commutes from Dogpatch to Little Rock and picks up his truck there. Drives off to New York, comes back, and may/may not have another run ready to take. Stays in a Little Rock motel about two nights a week 'cause a run usually comes up in a day or so and it's handier than driving 100 miles home and back again.

Question: Is this deductible travel expense?

He's out of town overnight, but not out of town on the road with a load and "on the job." He's waiting for a job to come up. I'm sort of thinking IRS would view it as for his own convenience rather than a necessary expense.

On the other hand, he's "away from home" (I think).

I think you answered your own question. commutes from Dogpatch to Little Rock
This is kind of like my airline crew, lives in one city 500 miles from their base where they
fly out of---this is still commuting.

[ChEAr$]

"Commutes from Dogpatch to Little Rock" has nothing to do with anything.

Remember the Amtrak ruling I quoted previously? Official name is transportation
something or other, and it says a truck driver's state to be taxed in, i.e. tax home,
is his home state, and not the state in which the terminal is located.

[Jesse]

I read Dogpatch and Little Rock both to be in the same state, so no argument as to what state is his tax home in - but whether or not it is commuting?

[Black Bart]

Clarification

He's an employee -- gets a W-2 -- lives in Arkansas (his home state) -- works only for this one company in Little Rock (sleeps there only) whose sole office/terminal is there. He's staying for his own convenience, not theirs.

P.S. to Gene - sorry for the misunderstanding -- if you overlooked the title of the thread (motel expense) it does kind of sound like I was asking about commuting, but when I said "travel" expense I meant lodging, not the car mileage.

[ChEAr$]

He's an employee -- gets a W-2 -- lives in Arkansas (his home state) -- works only for this one company in Little Rock (sleeps there only) whose sole office/terminal is there. He's staying for his own convenience, not theirs.

P.S. to Gene - sorry for the misunderstanding -- if you overlooked the title of the thread (motel expense) it does kind of sound like I was asking about commuting, but when I said "travel" expense I meant lodging, not the car mileage.

Same state residence and terminal. No deductions for travel or meals until he's out on the road.

[Gene V]

He's an employee -- gets a W-2 -- lives in Arkansas (his home state) -- works only for this one company in Little Rock (sleeps there only) whose sole office/terminal is there. He's staying for his own convenience, not theirs.

P.S. to Gene - sorry for the misunderstanding -- if you overlooked the title of the thread (motel expense) it does kind of sound like I was asking about commuting, but when I said "travel" expense I meant lodging, not the car mileage.

My mistake, sometimes I just pick out what I want to read and not look at the hold picture.
Anyway, same answer, motel probably not deductible, tax home being Little Rock.

[Lion]

If

If the motel expense were travel, then wouldn't the mileage to the motel be deductible also, and not commuting?! The fact that you consider the driving to the town with the motel as commuting seems to imply that the motel would not be deductible either unless for the convenience of the employer.

[Black Bart]

Tax Home

Well, shoot! The "tax home" school of thought makes sense alright (even I was thinkin' the same), but it just doesn't satisfy.

I much prefer the angles/dodges/whatever raised by my dentally-challenged comrade Snaggletooth (AKA "The Taxpayer's Friend") whose sympathies lie with mine and the poor, downtrodden, and oppressed working man...(blah-blah-blah). Maybe I'll advise the driver to stay in North Little Rock for a couple of nights.


Saw a good cartoon (about the American spirit) -- remember that trucker's strike for better pay/hours they had several years ago? A TV reporter is interviewing a tired driver at a truck stop:

Reporter (mike-in-hand intro to viewers): "This exhausted man is John Trucker, a modern road warrior forced to drive long, stress-laden days and nights under dangerous and extremely hazardous conditions to support his family. The unrelenting physical pressure of endless sleep-deprived hours at the wheel over vast distances has reached critical mass for this fatigued victim of Corporate-Truck America while"

Driver (interrupts reporter): "Aw hell, it ain't that bad!"

Reporter: "Cut!"

[taxea]

From TTB
However, a taxpayer does not have to
be away from home for a whole day or from dusk to dawn as long
as relief from duty is long enough to get necessary sleep or rest.

Has anyone consider that truckers probably have driving restrictions for safety reasons like those of police officers and pilots. If he has been on the road in for the restricted time then this is a safety issue and I would take the expense based on the restriction and the above quote.
If he was very close to home,,,maybe not but, you can surely kill yourself or someoneelse in 100miles. Remember the stats say that most accidents occur within 5 miles of home.

[AJsTax]

The Example On

page 8-11 of TTB is the exact same situation as this one. The city where the terminal is located is considered as the tax home of the truck driver. This example is used many times in similar ways in IRS pubs and discussions.
Even if he is out of hours and has to take a break , if it is in the tax home city there is no deduction because he is "home."
May not make sense but that is the interpretation at this point.