Feel free to see how much of a deduction you can get by visiting my site, free to use no gimmicks
www.onlineperdiem.com
Most crewmember can get a starting number of about 8-9 thousand dollars if they fly domestic. A pilot flying international can see a number around $18,000 or more flying to Europe or Asia.
With the starting number, you subtract the amount of money your company reimbursed you. Then as a transportation worker you subtract that number by 20%. The resulting amount plus any other deductions like union dues, etc must exceed 2.5% of your adjusted gross income.
If you have any other deductions like union dues, than it is worth the effort. When you start making the big bucks, your deductions start to go away because of the Alternative Minimum Tax.
$8000 - $5000(from company)
$3000 x 80% ( reduction) = $2400
$2400 + $500(union dues) +$500(uniform cleaning, equipment,etc)
$3400 total
AGI $60000 x 2.5% = $1500
3400-1500= 1900
The above example may or may not be accurate but just gives you an idea. The form IRS2106 guides you through the calculations, and turbo tax makes it easy. If you have a tax guy, they will love to have a per diem report so they do not have to add all the trips up.
If you do try my site, and like it, I can program any company's annual flight summary if they provide you one in CSV, XLS, or txt format. Otherwise you can use the manual input method. I am looking for some new summaries. Currently I have AA, Delta, ExJets programmed. I am a retired Captain and provide the report as a hobby.