Individual results vary widely based on: tax bracket, other deductions, amount of travel during the year, localities of travel, etc. We’ve provided some statistics of actual tax dollars saved here. If our report doesn’t save you at least $100 in income taxes, we’ll refund our fee.

We are the only company that gives you ALL of the following:

• Industry-exclusive calculation algorithm that optimizes your tax deduction to the maximum allowed by law without the need to keep receipts or records (other than time, place and business purpose of travel).
• 100% IRS & state approval of our Per Diem Reports ever since we started business in 1990.
• Completely free audit support and documentation.
• Full audit representation, by CPAs and Enrolled Agents, if the IRS – or any state tax agency - audits a report that we prepared for you. There is no additional fee for audit representation if you purchase the audit insurance with your report.
• Your choice of data entry: you enter your flights online and get your report instantly, or send your flight information to us and we’ll get your report out within 24 hours.
• Clear, easy to read (and easy for the IRS to understand) reporting format that provides only the information the IRS requires to allow your deduction. IRS examiners love our report.

As outlined in the Federal Travel Regulation and applicable IRS Revenue Procedures, we apply the federal per diem rates for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), as established by the US General Services Administration (GSA) for the 48 contiguous states (CONUS rates) and by the US State Department for all localities outside of the contiguous United States (OCONUS rates). Our database contains rates for over 15,000 cities and localities worldwide and our report applies the exact rate that is in effect for your layover city on your date of travel.

Yes, it’s absolutely legal and completely legitimate. The federal per diem rates are the rates at which government employees are reimbursed for meal and incidental expenses when they travel for business purposes. Because the federal government has established the general cost of being in a city, the IRS has adopted the federal per diem rates as allowable deductible business-related expenses, without requiring taxpayers to keep records and receipts for individual meal expenses. Your total will vary depending on the hours that you flew and your layover cities, but we’ve had per diem reports with over $39,000 in deductions audited – and fully accepted – by the IRS.

Our calculator will standardize your report times and block times to account for time zone differentials and optimize the report to the most favorable tax deduction. The report will return all times in either GMT or in Base Local Times.

The only way to optimize your meal allowance calculation to guarantee the maximum legal tax deduction for your layover meal expenses is to enter your flight times. If you had been using a service that only asks you to provide your layover cities (and no flight times), or asks you to “group” international layovers and domestic layovers, they are applying a very general and very conservative calculation to your meal expense deduction. Ironically, even though those calculations may not provide you the largest tax deduction allowed by law, the reports may actually be disregarded by the IRS examiner in an audit, because they don’t provide the three elements of substantiation (time, location and business purpose of travel) that the IRS requires to allow the deduction. Our reports have been accepted at full value in every IRS audit.

We are with you every step of the way. Because we maintain the credentials to represent taxpayers before the IRS & state tax agencies, we are the only per diem service that provides you full and complete representation in a federal or state audit. You simply sign a Power of Attorney form authorizing us to discuss your tax return with the IRS or state taxing agency and we deal with them on your behalf. You never have to talk to, or correspond directly with a tax auditor. If you purchased the audit insurance with your report, there is no additional fee for IRS representation.

Not only do we stand behind our reports, but they have held up in every single IRS – and state – audit since we started in business in 1990.

Yes. Tips for van drivers and other transportation expenses (train, taxi, bus, car rental) are all deductible separately from your meals and incidental expenses. Many per diem services (and even some CPAs) are confused by the terminology “incidental expenses”, and believe it to include all incidental expenses incurred during your layover. However, Section 300-3.1 of the Federal Travel Regulation specifically defines incidental expenses as only those pertaining to fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff and staff on ships. The cost of transportation (including tips) between airports and places of lodging are not considered incidental expenses. The GSA also published interim regulations on September 7, 2011 that excluded transportation costs between places of lodging and places where meals are taken from inclusion in the Incidental portion of the M&IE rates. These costs may now also be claimed separately from, and in addition to, the standard meal allowance.