tax question...per diem in training

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03-28-2015, 03:11 PM

#11

Blackwing

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What if you received hotel but not perdiem?

03-28-2015, 03:28 PM

#12

Adlerdriver

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackwing

What if you received hotel but not perdiem?

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. Company paid hotel does not prove someone's basing argument one way or the other. Tax status of per diem payments may support one's argument one way or the other, but hotels are not reported to the IRS or viewed by them differently based on out/in base.

03-28-2015, 03:30 PM

#13

Blackwing

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If a company is providing me hotel accommodations, kinda implies that I'm not domiciled there.

03-28-2015, 03:40 PM

#14

Adlerdriver

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackwing

If a company is providing me hotel accommodations, kinda implies that I'm not domiciled there.

As I mentioned with my DEN United training scenario, not necessarily. They offered DEN based pilots a company paid hotel during training. The company can offer whatever "nice" perks they want. They can acknowledge that a majority of their pilots do not live in the training city and out of the goodness of their heart, give you a hotel room. If they haven't assigned you a base and you go to work in that city every day for training, as far as the IRS is concerned, you are based there. Again, what choices the company makes regarding hotels is their business and has nothing to do with the IRS rules. In your situation, specifically, where would you say you were based during this time you were getting a paid hotel and what would be your reason?

03-28-2015, 04:30 PM

#15

Adlerdriver

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Here's a link to some more information that might help to make all this more clear: Per Diem Calculator for Airline Pilot & Flight Attendant Taxes I'm just giving you the exact rules as I understand them. It's possible that you could tap dance a little and make a case for claiming the per diem. Chances of you getting audited are slim anyway. The fact that you may not have your base assigned for most of training isn't going to be obvious to most people. Once you're established in your base, it's probably even less obvious. The training city could be viewed as a temporary duty station for a new hire who is en route to their permanent base. There are lots of ways to spin the situation, it's just easier if you already have a base that's not your training city if you actually have to prove your claim. Hope that helps.