Originally Posted by
HighFlight
Pretty bad advice, especially for those not familiar with tax laws.
Yes, you can deduct per diem difference. But without a mortgage, it is unlikely that a married person will ever beat the $12,600 standard. Heck, even WITH a mortgage in July, I could not itemize this year. That was with moving expenses, per diem difference, and uniforms.
Your training location IS your assigned domicile, since you don't go to your base until IOE; not sure where you are going with that one.
Cell phone and internet? That's a slippery slope. One that I personally would never try to stay upright on. One would have to be able to justify the percentages claimed for work, and even at that, a cell phone and a computer (internet) technically are not required. Caveat emptor. You could get away with it for years, until the audit. Again, for me, not worth the $27 I would save on my taxes doing it the non-questionable way.
My CPA disagrees with some of the things you are saying. Internet isn't REQUIRED, but if I choose to bid on my computer and use my internet, it is a qualified business expense. If I choose to pick up flying out or domicile, all expenses to include parking and hotels are tax deductible. Just because the company doesn't mandate it doesn't mean it isn't a business expense.
As far as your comment regarding training, yes you are partially correct. If you show up to indoc in Denver or Salt Lake or Atlanta and they ship you to Cincy or St Louis or France to do systems and sims because very few regionals own their sims, that is a temporary assignment and M&IE expenses are tax deductible.