Airline Pilots: receipt tracking, taxes, etc...

[derg]

Our lines in LAX for Jersey Mikes is never worth it. Insanity.

Order a hot sandwich at the checkout counter:

 

[fholbert]

Literary!


Interestingly, I have one half of a two stall garage. My half is on my property, the other half is on my neighbor's property.

No, seriously! The garage sits on the property line and butts up against the alley behind our houses. Kind of hard to see with the tree there.

View attachment 69150

That's kind of weird. Is the whole neighborhood like that?

 

[SteveC]

That's kind of weird. Is the whole neighborhood like that?

No, we're the only one that I know of. Our house was built in 1910. Don't know when the garage was added.

ETA:

 

[knot4u]

No, we're the only one that I know of. Our house was built in 1910. Don't know when the garage was added.

ETA:

View attachment 69160

That's a very odd situation that I've never heard of a homeowner being a part of. I understand people sharing parking with their neighbors when they rent an apartment, but your situation is not that sort of thing I'd want to get involved in. Does that caveat regarding the garage affect your property value? Do you or your neighbor actually park any cars in the garage?

 

[SteveC]

That's a very odd situation that I've never heard of a homeowner being a part of. I understand people sharing parking with their neighbors when they rent an apartment, but your situation is not that sort of thing I'd want to get involved in. Does that caveat regarding the garage affect your property value?

In these old neighborhoods off-street garage parking is not available for 100% of the homes, so my guess is that, if it does affect property value, it is a small net positive. I really don't know though, nor care.

Do you or your neighbor actually park any cars in the garage?

Of course. My neighbor parks his truck on his side (or works on his old wooden sailboat). I park my car on my side for about 7 - 8 months of the year, and my wife uses it the other 4 - 5. The interior is wide open - no dividing wall. Luckily I have great neighbors, and so do they.

 

[knot4u]

In these old neighborhoods off-street garage parking is not available for 100% of the homes, so my guess is that, if it does affect property value, it is a small net positive. I really don't know though, nor care.


Of course. My neighbor parks his truck on his side (or works on his old wooden sailboat). I park my car on my side for about 7 - 8 months of the year, and my wife uses it the other 4 - 5. The interior is wide open - no dividing wall. Luckily I have great neighbors, and so do they.

I'm glad you're happy with that arrangement, I'm a strong proponent for being friendly with your neighbors. I wouldn't enter that sort of agreement, the potential pitfalls and my risk adverse mindset would never allow me to do it. But I don't live in Michigan and I have no idea about the parking there. There is an old saying "Good fences make good neighbors.", most of those old sayings are old sayings because they're more likely to be true rather than false.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

I'm glad you're happy with that arrangement, I'm a strong proponent for being friendly with your neighbors. I wouldn't enter that sort of agreement, the potential pitfalls and my risk adverse mindset would never allow me to do it. But I don't live in Michigan and I have no idea about the parking there. There is an old saying "Good fences make good neighbors.", most of those old sayings are old sayings because they're more likely to be true rather than false.

I’ve seen a number of 50’s and 60’s neighborhoods with a shared carport. Kinda cool.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I don’t even like my neighbors to be within eye sight.

 

[knot4u]

I’ve seen a number of 50’s and 60’s neighborhoods with a shared carport. Kinda cool.

A carport and a garage are two very different things.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

A carport and a garage are two very different things.

I understand the taxonomy of such structures.

 

[knot4u]

I understand the taxonomy of such structures.

Garages are secure and private, you can park a Corvette in one and it's impervious to any malfeasance. Sorry, I'm just laughing at the hoops that are currently being jumped through.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Garages are secure and private, you can park a Corvette in one and it's impervious to any malfeasance. Sorry, I'm just laughing at the hoops that are currently being jumped through.

I understand the taxonomy of such structures.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

I'd just ask for a bit of self reflection from the most vocal haters, it'll never happen but a boy can dream.

I don’t think there has been more self-reflection than that of many of my friends and peers that voted for Trump and feel cheated and embarrassed.

In retrospect, many of us heard what we wanted to hear. Trump’s party-jumping suggested he wasn’t an ideologue. As a business man, we expected fiscal conservatism. He didn’t appear especially religious, which looked attractive to an atheist like me. With a number of social issues, he seemed pretty moderate, though suspiciously vague in retrospect.

Most of all, his apparent economic and military isolationism appealed to my me.

Disappointed, to say the least, I’m not among the most vocal haters but a hater, nonetheless. I didn’t vote for him a second time.

 

[knot4u]

I don’t think there has been more self-reflection than that of many of my friends and peers that voted for Trump and feel cheated and embarrassed.

In retrospect, many of us heard what we wanted to hear. Trump’s party-jumping suggested he wasn’t an ideologue. As a business man, we expected fiscal conservatism. He didn’t appear especially religious, which looked attractive to an atheist like me. With a number of social issues, he seemed pretty moderate, though suspiciously vague in retrospect.

Most of all, his apparent economic and military isolationism appealed to my me.

Disappointed, to say the least, I’m not among the most vocal haters but a hater, nonetheless.

Trump? That's sad but typical. It's 2023.

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

Our lines in LAX for Jersey Mikes is never worth it. Insanity.

Speaking of lines, how about In n Out Burger on any given night. Especially drive through. Hot damn!

Lines over a mile long...

 

[tcco94]

Speaking of lines, how about In n Out Burger on any given night. Especially drive through. Hot damn!

Lines over a mile long...

Worth

 

[FlyingAccountant]

Folks,

Are you guys keeping and tracking all of your receipts when you're on a trip? Are you using an app? A spreadsheet?

I know per diem is supposed to offset some of this stuff, but I'm not clear on how that works for taxes and I figure it's better to track all of the receipts than not have that data. I'd appreciate any pointers/guidance for airline pilots on this kind of thing.

If you're receiving a per diem for it, it's not tax deductible. The company is compensating you for that expense via the per diem so it becomes their expense and no longer yours.

It likely wouldn't be worth trying to write off anyway unless you're beating the standard deduction.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

If you're receiving a per diem for it, it's not tax deductible. The company is compensating you for that expense via the per diem so it becomes their expense and no longer yours.

It likely wouldn't be worth trying to write off anyway unless you're beating the standard deduction.

In the old days, before Trump screwed over the middle class with his "tax cuts," pilots routinely got big deductions on this because the per diem the airlines pay is almost never enough to meet the government CONUS rates.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

In the old days, before Trump screwed over the middle class with his "tax cuts," pilots routinely got big deductions on this because the per diem the airlines pay is almost never enough to meet the government CONUS rates.

The pilots that really got screwed were those commuting to base.

Previously, you could arrive early at your base, check into a hotel, have a nice meal, and be well rested in the morning and claim per diem expense. It’s interesting that the per diem expense was not tied to what you spent, you could pack a lunch and camp in your car. In case of an audit, you only had to prove you were there, pretty easy to document that.

As long as you didn’t try to expense the actual transportation, you were safe, as that would have been commuting.

 

[Roger Roger]

In the old days, before Trump screwed over the middle class with his "tax cuts," pilots routinely got big deductions on this because the per diem the airlines pay is almost never enough to meet the government CONUS rates.

But I’m sure the tax plan THIS house is advertising will work out great!