Form 2106 - Claiming reservists expenses

[FEDUKE404]

Has anyone recently prepared a Form 2106 for a person on military reserve duty?

A client moved from Point A to Point B (before 2021 reserve duty began) so that he now meets the 100-mile rule for 2021 duty.

He has informed me (no paperwork received yet) that he was reimbursed only for lodging. No travel. No meals.

He now wants to claim the "per diem" ($140 / day) for meals. I'm not quite sure where he found that number. And what about same for "travel days"?

Claiming the mileage will not be complicated for me (once I get all of the pieces) but I'm still befuddled why the Army did not reimburse any vehicle costs.

An added kicker is NCDOR *may* have an add-back for "100% meals" so as to further complicate things. (They still have 2021 tax forms that have not been finalized, , ,)

What would you do / have you done when facing a scenario of this type??

Thanks! FE

[Beersheba]

I never heard of meals per diem as high as $140/day. And per diem is only 50% deductible, whereas dining at a restaurant would be 100% deductible for 2021.
Typically he gets 75% of meals per diem the day of travel to, and another 75% the day of travel from.

Mileage should be simple enough, as you have indicated. Don't know a thing about your taxes in North Carolina.

[New York Enrolled Agent]

I never heard of meals per diem as high as $140/day. And per diem is only 50% deductible, whereas dining at a restaurant would be 100% deductible for 2021.

.

Beer - take a look at IRS Notice 2021-63.

[Beersheba]

Looks like Section 3 of the IRS Notice 2021-63 says that proper observance of per diem would be treated the same as eating in a restaurant. Good catch, and thank you.

[TaxGuyBill]

As was noted above, yes, you can take the Meal Per Diem (at 100%), and 75% for travel days. The amount depends on the locality, so you can look it up using the link below (the highest I saw was $79 for meals).

https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates

[FEDUKE404]

The client is deciding what he should do / should have done.
NOTE: This week the NCDOR finally got their act together with some 2021 tax forms. There WILL be a state addback to any 100% meals that routinely have been 50% meals.