Am I eligible to claim my expenses for hotel, gas, food in my construction job despite getting paid a per diem?

[isaac-24-garcia]

I get a $50 per diem and am working in Texas. If not, can I at least claim the mileage or gas it takes to get to the job site at the beginning of the week and back home at the end of the week?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

You can take a tax deduction for travel expenses for work if the new assignment is away from your tax home and is temporary (lasting and expected to last less than one year.)  Deductible expenses are actual lodging cost, actual cost of travel, and either 50% of actual meal cost or 50% of the federal meal per diem for the area you worked in.  These expenses are an itemized deduction on form 2106 subject to the 2% rule, so your actual deduction will depend on your overall tax situation.

Note that if you work in many different locations you may not have a "tax home" and can't deduct any travel.  See IRS publication 463 https://www.irs.gov/uac/about-publication-463

If you receive money from your employer for your travel expenses, then:

•If the money is included in your taxable income, you can fully deduct your travel expenses.

•If the money is tax-free, you can deduct your expenses, but you must reduce the deduction by the amount of tax-free reimbursement.  In Turbotax, if you enter all your work expenses and then keep going through the interview, it will ask you for the amount of tax-free reimbursement.  Enter the amount there, and the program will take a deduction for the remaining un-reimbursed expenses.