The
per diem that a pilot or a flight attendant is
reimbursed from his or her employer is given to cover or offset
meals and
incidental
expenses (M&IE).
That per diem can be in one of two forms:
-
Taxable Per Diem
- Non-Taxable Per Diem
Non taxable per diem reimburses pilots and flight attendants for M&IE
expenses that involved overnight travel away from their
tax home. This
assumes that their employer is set up to provide per diem via an
accountable plan.
If so, pilots and flight attendants should see their non taxable per diem
reported on their W-2, Box 12, Code L.
Note that Box 12 is divided into 12a, 12b, 12c,
12d above. The a, b, c, and d above are NOT codes. They simply allow
for more than one code to be entered into box 12. Non-taxable per
diem could be in any of those spots on your W-2 and will be marked with a Code
L. It is also important to note that Code L could contain other
reimbursements in addition to non-taxable per diem. Code L is for
non-taxable reimbursements for employee business expenses, and is not
necessarily limited to M&IE reimbursements. For that reason, we recommend
using the last paycheck stub that a pilot or flight attendant received for a
given tax year, as an added resource to figure out how much non-taxable per
diem he or she received.
The
per diem deduction
is calculated by first determining your M&IE expenses (via the EZPerDiem.com
Per Diem
Calculator), then subtracting off the non taxable per diem reimbursement,
and lastly making IRS adjustments (via
IRS Form 2106,
TurboTax, or TaxCut).
