AirlineCPA

Can’t believe I missed the irony in that. It really was pretty funny. That’s my old QX uniform on the website though. Teamsters Local 747.

AirlineCPA

Commuting expenses and crash pads are generally non-deductible.

The travel expense deduction crew members get is commonly referred to as the per diem deduction. It can really add up if you fly a lot of overnights.

dojetdriver

Gotcha, I thought when you said claiming travel expenses it was in reference to commuting.

I do the per diem deduction, helps out a lot. Especially when you have overnights outside the U.S.

gettinbumped

I got tagged by the State of CA several years ago for the same. Live in PDX, based in SFO. I ended up not having to pay anything, but Brasilia in FAT might be earning most of their income in CA, so that might be different. Almost all my trips are transcons, so I'm out of CA for most of my hours. Bottom line, if you are based in CA and live out of state, it is probably worth the money to get an accountant that specializes in airlines or exactly this problem. Looks like there is someone right here in this thread that knows the ropes.

trip

I didn't read this whole thread so it might have already been said- If you are based in CA but do not live there then more than 50% of you flying has to have been performed in (over) the sate of CA in order for them to tax you. If 50% or more was outside the the state of CA then they have no claim to your income. The reg is out there and it should come up on google or even the state tax franchise board site.

Copy the reg and send it along with your letter stating where the majority of flying was done.

aviatorhi

I work in AK and "vacation" in HI, if I "lived" in HI I would be required to pay HI taxes.

Anyway, a lot of this whole state tax discussion has to do with domiciles and the actions you take to maintain/establish your domiciles (not in the Airline sense, in the Legal sense), if you were to work in CA for instance, brought/bought a car there, registered to vote there, established a bank account there and surrendered your license or a CA license a case could be made that you intend for CA to be your lawful home, however, if you have the aforementioned items in IL (or certain items in CA for convenience, but maintain your "Domicile" as IL), you could get around the law by making the case that you are not establishing a domicile, since you never "vacated" your previous domicile of IL, personally I like AK as a "residence" since there is no income tax whatsoever. The concepts of 50% of work are actually unimportant, if someone were to be from IL and went to live in Japan to work for JAL, but never vacated IL as their domicile and did not intend on making Japan their home then if the state of IL could prove that was the case they would be within their right to claim back taxes from you for earning IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.

Convairator

LOL, i always enjoy a good come back, therefore, props. I will continue to watch the water come up on shore from my Florida ocean view as well (there are no waves in florida, just ocean current, waffle house, and really old people: Hence, 'Florida, god's waiting room') Florida is a great place to come to get old, play golf on really flat courses, play shuffleboard, then die of natural causes. I would certainly prefer to live in CA over FL, however, Im not sure how a pilot affords that state. My rift on the redwood state was concerning their political machine, which I am not a fan of.

Apparently I had set a few left coasters off as they deemed me an arkansas, double wide liven, levi garrett chewin, sob. Not yet, but the longer I remain a pilot, the closer we could all get to such a fruitful reality?

TheDashRocks

I enjoyed yours as well.

Things are quite a mess politically in Cali. I think the root of the problem lies in human nature. It is easy to find people who want lower or no taxes. Promise this and win their votes. The tough part comes when it is time to choose those items which will no longer be funded. Schools? Law enforcement? Roads and bridges? Med-i-Cal? Unemployment bennies? State colleges and universities? Everyone wants to stop paying taxes, few really want the government to stop spending money.

The same thing occurs at the national level. Many have this gut feeling that government waste is out of control. They know this with certainty, yet they cannot haul out a copy of the federal budget and show it to you. They favor a certain party and political philosophy that they believe will stop "government confiscation of my wealth" or some such. They ignore contrary evidence such as "no-bid" Haliburton and KBR contracts which caused the evaporation of billions of their dollars. This occurred when a different party with a supposedly different philosophy was in charge.

Flyin1500

Dude!! What about the porn industry!!??? Doesn't like 99% of all porn come from California?