To all you tax guru's
04-06-2007, 11:59 AM
#1
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Joined APC: Mar 2007
Position: MD-11 FO
Posts: 14
To all you tax guru's
Soon to be an fo for UPS, probably an ANC base. Currently live in Chicago and will probably commute till I can bid back to the lower 48. Question is, if I buy an airline ticket with my own cash to insure I get to work on time, can I claim it as an unreimbursed business expense subject to the 2% limitation? Would love to move, but the better 1/2 will have nothing to do with living up there.
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
04-08-2007, 08:28 AM
#2
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Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: 757 Capt
Posts: 2,418
You can deduct anything.....until audited. And if the IRS comes calling, they are going to deny your deduction and probably impose penalties.
Travel deductions are from your "Tax Home". And, that will be Anchorage for you. On the bright side, if you have earned income where you reside.....you can deduct a portion of your living expenses every day you work at home since you are away from your "Tax Home" for business purposes. The following are clip's from IRS Pub 463
Generally, your tax home is your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. It includes the entire city or general area in which your business or work is located.
Tax Home Different From Family Home
If you (and your family) do not live at your tax home (defined earlier), you cannot deduct the cost of traveling between your tax home and your family home. You also cannot deduct the cost of meals and lodging while at your tax home. See Example 1 that follows.
If you are working temporarily in the same city where you and your family live, you may be considered as traveling away from home. See Example 2, below.
Example 1.
You are a truck driver and you and your family live in Tucson. You are employed by a trucking firm that has its terminal in Phoenix. At the end of your long runs, you return to your home terminal in Phoenix and spend one night there before returning home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging in Phoenix or the cost of traveling from Phoenix to Tucson. This is because Phoenix is your tax home.
Example 2.
Your family home is in Pittsburgh, where you work 12 weeks a year. The rest of the year you work for the same employer in Baltimore. In Baltimore, you eat in restaurants and sleep in a rooming house. Your salary is the same whether you are in Pittsburgh or Baltimore.
Because you spend most of your working time and earn most of your salary in Baltimore, that city is your tax home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging there. However, when you return to work in Pittsburgh, you are away from your tax home even though you stay at your family home. You can deduct the cost of your roundtrip between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. You can also deduct your part of your family's living expenses for meals and lodging while you are living and working in Pittsburgh.
Travel deductions are from your "Tax Home". And, that will be Anchorage for you. On the bright side, if you have earned income where you reside.....you can deduct a portion of your living expenses every day you work at home since you are away from your "Tax Home" for business purposes. The following are clip's from IRS Pub 463
Generally, your tax home is your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. It includes the entire city or general area in which your business or work is located.
Tax Home Different From Family Home
If you (and your family) do not live at your tax home (defined earlier), you cannot deduct the cost of traveling between your tax home and your family home. You also cannot deduct the cost of meals and lodging while at your tax home. See Example 1 that follows.
If you are working temporarily in the same city where you and your family live, you may be considered as traveling away from home. See Example 2, below.
Example 1.
You are a truck driver and you and your family live in Tucson. You are employed by a trucking firm that has its terminal in Phoenix. At the end of your long runs, you return to your home terminal in Phoenix and spend one night there before returning home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging in Phoenix or the cost of traveling from Phoenix to Tucson. This is because Phoenix is your tax home.
Example 2.
Your family home is in Pittsburgh, where you work 12 weeks a year. The rest of the year you work for the same employer in Baltimore. In Baltimore, you eat in restaurants and sleep in a rooming house. Your salary is the same whether you are in Pittsburgh or Baltimore.
Because you spend most of your working time and earn most of your salary in Baltimore, that city is your tax home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging there. However, when you return to work in Pittsburgh, you are away from your tax home even though you stay at your family home. You can deduct the cost of your roundtrip between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. You can also deduct your part of your family's living expenses for meals and lodging while you are living and working in Pittsburgh.
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