Originally Posted by sailingfun

Raising per diem that much would not be a smart move. There is no real tax advantage once you reach the accepted deductions for transport workers for meal expenses. The IRS is quite wise to move pay into other areas to try and avoid taxes. You will be taxed on the excess per diem. What you wont get on that money is the 13 percent DC or the ability to contribute some of it to your 401k and fill your 415C limit. Some increase in per diem to the max allowed tax free would be good. That is probably not more then 50 cents an hour more then current. The rest should be in pay.