Per Diem

[Dunmor]

s About Taxes)/Per Diem Advertisement Expert: James G Rogers CPA - 1/21/2009 Can per diem be treated like income? Can it be taxed? My employer keeps telling me my per diem is income. I am traveling and working for them, why should it be treated as income for me?

[Galvin]

Dear Robert,

Welcome to All Experts, and thank you for your question.

Generally speaking, if per diems exceed the federal thresholds, then they ARE taxable income.  Here is the link for Publication 1542:http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1542.pdf

If your employer's per diem exceeds the federal threshold, then there will be some tax exposure, but you can retain your receipts and try to deduct the excess on Schedule A, in the Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions section.

Robert, I hope the above and Publication 1542 are helpful.

Sincerely,

James Rogers CPA