Overnitefr8

I've been doing dec-nov on my own. Thought I'd better send the right stuff if I'm letting someone else do it.

fedupbusdriver

They actually tried to talk me into jan-dec, but i've been doing it the other way for so long, i didn't want to confuse myself.

Laughing_Jakal

Now this is the APC info I come here looking for.

Sluggo_63

You won't get any deduction there, because the Air Force already pays you the government rate when your TDY. When you get this deduction, I believe what you are actually claiming (since you are a DOT worker) is the difference between what FedEx paid you in perdiem and what the Federal government would have paid you in those cities. When you're TDY, there is no difference.

kwri10s

I think you answered the wrong question. You are looking for deductions for your time away from your Tax Home. Could be MEM or could be your home of residence. Depends upon many definition factors. Try using the transportation per diem for every day traveling to your res job and factor the max lodging rate if not compensated for lodging. Much more complicated then that explanation but it's a start.

viperdriver

I claim per diem and mileage to drive to IDT FTPs and UTAs and such. We get no travel expenses for these. Was hoping this program might do this for me.

Adlerdriver

Viperdriver was asking about time spent serving in the Guard or reserves when you are in UTA or FTP pay status. You do not get any per diem during those periods and are entitled to claim the city rate for your unit's location for each day your are there.

Viperdriver,
I'm sure you could get them to provide you with the appropriate numbers as long as you provided them with accurate data on when you were there and for how long. You have peaked my curiosity and I will ask the question myself as well. I've always done the Guard per diem myself since it has been so much more simplified than multiple trips to a wide variety of countries and cities. One city rate, partial days at 75% and full days at 100% has always been easy to figure out.

Hopefully, they'll do it along with the Fedex stuff for $59 instead of two separate charges. Worth looking into.

Magenta Line

Got my nums back from ProDiem today and I like their product. My calculations were slightly better in my favor than ProDiem's but I cannot say with certainty that I'm doing it the absolute best and correct way.

So...... for me, I'll be using their product from now on.

I am guessing but it probably took me 4 or 5 hrs of work to put this stuff together in my own Excel spreadsheet and crunch my own nums. This year some locations changed their per deim rates each month.

In contrast, it took me 20 min MAX to cut and paste all of my trips from '08, load them into their log, pay, register and set up an account for their service, and be done with it. All of this AND piece of mind too.

Sorry to sound like Billy Mays pitching a new type of glue but this one was a no brainer for me. End of year, 20 mins, $59, a cold adult beverage, and results in 2 days -- done, stick a fork in the IRS's eye.

BonesF15

I tried to get them to calculate this for me last year but they would not.

Sluggo_63

Good point. I've never thought of that. Albeit, I only live 35 miles form my guard job, so I'm inside the 100 mile IRS commuting limit, and I rarely spend the night there. I still can't claim UTA/IDT travel then, can I?