Originally Posted by
SKYKN6
For years I figured my own per diem. It took a LOT of time and aggravation chasing down rates per city, legalities and just adding up the score. I found PRO-DIEM.com a few years ago and willl NEVER do my own again. Easy, $59, guaranteed and they gave me more deductions than I ever could find. No, this is not a paid endorsement nor do I get anything from them.... Just a VERY happy customer.
I second this advice. You will be very happy if you consider taking the plunge. Saturday night, I used their "widget" which automatically downloaded everything they needed from my company's website. That and the Paypal payment took about 3 minutes. 5 minutes after I submitted, they called with a question about a vacation month during which I had not worked just to make sure their data was right. I had my report less than 24 hours later.
For years I calculated my per diem deduction myself. I understood the method well and my company computer system allowed me access to all the information I needed. I used the 3/4 day method for partial days and computed each city layover accurately.
After reading posts like this and hearing guys at work talk up Pro-Diem, I finally decided to try it. I sent them my stuff and still did my own calculations that year. Their calculations were almost $3000 more than mine. The $59 was a drop in the bucket compared to the extra $$ I saved on my taxes.
Just to give you some numbers: This year, I was paid about $8700 in per diem by my company. Pro-diem's report calculated my max allowable at about $16,600. Since I don't waste my time doing my own, I have no idea what I would have calculated - but I know it wouldn't have been that much.
What do they do differently? Don't know.... their method is proprietary. However, it works, is accepted by the IRS and they'll stand by their data if you get audited.
I'm also just a happy customer who has learned the error of his ways. Give it a try.