Discussion:Auto expense for truck driver

Second he lives in his Cab since he is allways in his home (sleeps in his cab) can he deduct any miles and meals?

Neil

Since he has no other tax home, any miles or meals on "Days Off" would not be deductible.

I would say that there is some (very low) risk that the IRS would take a position that he is never away from his tax home and therefore attempt to disallow the meals deduction. However, your client probably has some place he/she calls "home"..where is the drivers license issued/registered to vote etc...to prove that "on the road" was solely "for business purposes".

Careful with over the roas truckers. The standard mileage rate, as I read the rev proc, applies to cars and trucks( pickup and panel trucks). Over the road truckers must use actual expenses for their truck expense.

Also, there are special limitations on the deductibility of Meals/Entertainment if the Truck Driver is subject to DOT rules.

Only for lodging, Belle. M&IE are permissible. Rev. Proc. 2007-63.

Your first post & last post seem to contradict one another. Are you saying he has a home (a permanet place of abode) and then while driving uses his cab to sleep at night???

To establish a tax home, you need to go through the procedure used by the Courts. I'll paste a snip from Kennedy TC Memo 1987-430 which discusses the tax home in a case involving a truck driver. I've omitted all the citations and added a few CAPS.

[start]The existence of a tax home is a factual question on which petitioners have the burden of proof. ... As a GENERAL rule, a taxpayer's "tax home" is at the location of his principal place of business. ... Where the taxpayer has NO principal place of business he may treat any PERMANENT place of residence at which he incurs substantial continuing living expenses as a tax home. ... However, if the taxpayer has neither a principal place of business nor such a permanent residence, he has NO tax home from which he can be away. In such cases, his home is wherever he happens to be. [end]

IMO, if your taxpayer satisfies the second scenario, he may take a per diem for meals. If he is an itinerant as in the third scenario he may not. In any case, I see no reason why he could not take his fuel, tolls, repairs, etc as an ordinary & necessary expense.

Even if the vehicle being used is a "car" (which includes cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks) that would normally qualify for the standard mileage rate, there is an exception for vehicles used for hire. They are required to use actual expenses. It appears to me that a truck driver is using his vehicle for hire.

Neil

Not to be rude but your questions indicate that you don't have enough knowledge of the trucking industry to be doing tax returns for truckers. I suggest you spend some serious research time on the transportation industry. If your stuck on per diem and fuel costs what are you doing on the harder issues of depreciation etc.