#per-diem
Per diem rates, tracking, and expense reimbursement
Reimbursements stay tax-free under IRS rules only with 60-day substantiation and 120-day return of excess advances — miss either and they become W-2 wages.
IRS accountable plans need a business connection, substantiation within 60 days, and excess advances back in 120 — miss one and reimbursements become W-2 wages.
Every state you played wants a nonresident return, and the IRS taxes all of it. US guide to door deals, merch books, per diems, and road deductions.
Day trips are never business travel under the IRS sleep-or-rest rule: same-day meals are nondeductible and day-trip per diems are taxable wages.
IRS rules let flight crew exclude per diem up to the $80 transportation rate, deny crash-pad deductions, and limit state tax to two states.
IRS Notice 2026-60 lifts high-low per diem to $329 high-cost and $230 elsewhere from Oct 1, 2026; meal rates stay $86/$74. Update your accountable plan now.
GSA's FY2027 standard per diem is $181/day — $113 lodging plus $68 M&IE from October 1. Update your accountable plan or the IRS taxes them as wages.
Owner-operators deduct 80% of the $80 IRS transportation per diem rate — $64 a day — not 50%. Claim only overnight days and prorate partial days at 75%.
For fiscal 2026 the IRS high-low per diem rates are $319/day (high-cost) and $225/day (standard), unchanged from the prior year. Per diem stays tax-free only under an accountable plan's three rules — business connection, substantiation within 60 days, and return of excess within 120 days.
A bookkeeping guide for independent speakers and keynote artists, covering entity selection, revenue recognition across engagement fees and royalties, multi-state nexus, Section 274 travel substantiation, Section 179 studio equipment, and the KPIs that separate sustainable practices from feast-or-famine cycles.
A practical accounting guide for independent hospice and palliative care agencies — covering Medicare per-diem revenue recognition under ASC 606, the aggregate cap under 42 CFR 418.309, the inpatient cap, hospice wage index labor allocation, ZPIC/SMRC/RAC recoupment reserves, bereavement and foundation income segregation, and the NHPCO benchmark KPIs that boards and lenders track.
A working guide to Section 274's four meal deduction rates—100%, 80%, 50%, and zero—and the 2026 Section 274(o) cliff that ended the employer deduction for breakroom snacks, catered office lunches, and convenience-of-employer meals.
