Can I use per diem for housing ($200) instead of actual costs? Can I use the combined housing/meal per diem ($275) instead, and if so how is *that* entered into Turbotax?

[c3ar]

I travel for business for two months each year. Usually I  deduct  actual housing costs and per diem for m&ie.  Last year  housing costs were low.  Can I use the per diem for housing ($200/day) instead of actual housing expenses?  Alternately, can I use the per diem for housing and m&ie ($275/day), and if so, how is that entered into TurboTax, since it combines housing and meal expenses?

[bwa]

Housing can only be based on actual costs.  Housing rates shown in GSA schedules are maximum rates for Government employees, not tax deduction rates.

[c3ar]

Thanks.  Turns out the explanation from the IRS is tucked away in a small note in Publication 463 (p. 6) in the discussion of per diem for meals: "There is no optional standard lodging amount similar to the standard meal allowance. Your allowable lodging expense deduction is your actual cost."  I would never have found this without reading every word of this long document.