long distance truck driver

[oceanlovin'ea]

Working on new client now. He is a truck driver. He drives all over the state of Florida and out of state too I think. He leaves in the morning and is gone out of town all day but coming home at night it appears by his logs.

I am looking at his food tickets and a LARGE majority of the tickets are for eating establishments (Checkers) in our town. Guess he gets his food on the way out of town. Considering it is Checkers, it isn't a large amount of money each time.

What is deductible and what is not? First time I have done a trucker in a long time.

Thanks

Linda, EA

[DaveinTexas]

A few sources for you to look into

I would start with Publication 463, page 3. If the trucker returns home every night the auto response is his meals are not deductible BUT, this is not a requirement to deduct meals away from home (per diem allowance). The rules state that the trucker/worker must be relieved from duty away from home long enough to obtain sufficient rest. See page 3, Example 1, the example of the railroad conductor. Then see Example 2 of the truck driver that is off duty only for one hour at his turn around point.

Other examples and quotes from IRC 162 (a) (2) and related court cases. (sorry for the length)

Section 162(a)(2) permits the deduction of traveling expenses, including meals, while away from home in the pursuit of a trade or business. For a taxpayer to be considered "away from home" within the meaning of section 162(a)(2), the Supreme Court has held that the taxpayer must be on a trip requiring sleep or rest. See United States v. Correll, 389 U.S. 299 (1967). In Barry v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 1210 (1970), affd. per curiam 435 F.2d 1290 (1st Cir. 1970), this Court applied the Correll rule in disallowing expenses for meals claimed by a taxpayer on 1-day business trips that extended from 16 to 19 hours during which the taxpayer rested briefly once or twice in his automobile but always returned home without incurring an expense for lodging. This Court held, in Barry, that the rest period required for the deductibility of travel expenses requires a rest of sufficient duration in time that necessitates the securing of lodging, and that a mere pause in the daily work routine does not satisfy the requirements of section 162(a)(2). The rationale for allowance of the deduction in such cases is the taxpayer's significantly higher expenses incurred by reason of the lodging. See United States v. Correll, supra at 304-305. On the other hand, where no lodging expense is incurred, the meal expenses incurred by the taxpayer do not add to the taxpayer's business expenses because such expenses result from the sort of rest that anyone can, at any time, without special arrangement and without special expense, take in his own automobile or office.

That last sentence is exactly why these train dispatchers and air traffic controllers can't deduct meals just because "we work long days and sometimes have to work at our desks through our lunches". I have a few that ask me every year.

For other trucker deductions, Google it and you will find many. Better yet, look into TaxTools, they have industry specific organizer/expense lists that are pretty handy as client handouts.

[ATSMAN]

If the truck driver drives all day goes to various states and then comes back to his tax home at night and sleeps there and starts all over again the next day, food expenses are generally not deductible.

What ever you do make sure it jives with the log bog because that will give away his location at the end of the day!

You may have seen many truck drivers sleep in their cab at the side of the interstate!