EZPerDiem's TurboTax Guide

This guide will take you through the process of entering the EZPerDiem.com numbers that pilots and flight attendants incur with their jobs, into TurboTax tax software.

This guide is designed to be for any tax year. It was last updated on January 7, 2018 for the 2017 tax year. Depending on the latest update date, the screenshots and video clips might not match perfectly with the latest update on TurboTax. However, the concepts apply to all years. We typically update this guide in the early part of each tax year.

Disclaimer: This guide is intended to be use by airline pilots, corporate pilots, fractional pilots, and flight attendants who pay U.S. Income Taxes and use TurboTax for their tax returns and EZPerDiem.com for their flight crewmember tax deductions. This guide is not intended to be used by armed forces members because the method in which armed forces members enter their tax information is somewhat different than it is for civilian employees. If you are a pilot who flew part time as a reservist and also flew professionally as a civilian airline pilot, you need to separate your expenses from those two jobs and only use this guide for the civilian pilot component. To enter the military expenses into TurboTax, we recommend that you use the guidance supplied by TurboTax, applicable IRS Publications, or seek a qualified tax preparer. Also, TurboTax is not affiliated with EZPerDiem.com. EZPerDiem.com simply provides this guide as an unofficial feature that might help flight crewmembers enter their data from EZPerDiem.com into TurboTax. The fact that this guide is unofficial means that any instructions contained within it should not be taken as tax advice or substituted for IRS publications or the knowledge of a professional tax preparer.

LET'S BEGIN!

Important! When starting TurboTax Online, please go to TurboTax via the following link:

Click here to go to the correct TurboTax Location.

You should see several options for which version to choose. We chose the Deluxe version. You may start it for free, but they do charge to print off the required tax information. As we write this TurboTax guide for pilots and flight attendants, we are going to skip over general information and get to the focus of EZPerDiem and this guide – employee expenses.

Note: The screenshots in this guide may not be exactly what you will see on your screen in TurboTax. However, the concepts are the same and should apply no matter which version of TurboTax you are using.

If you see screenshot references to 2015, they also apply to 2016 and 2017, as the tax rules were unchanged during those tax years.

Also note that the 2017 tax year will be the last year for these tax deductions because of the Tax Reform changes that occurred in December, 2017. This means that for taxes due on April 15, 2018, job expenses for flight crew members are still allowed.

Shortly after you begin the process of using TurboTax, you will land on a page that looks a bit like this:

Be sure to check the box that says “Job expenses”. This tells TurboTax that you have work-related expenses to write off.

As you arrive on the deductions and credits sections of TurboTax (after you enter you income and personal information), you will want to focus on the section they call “Job-Related Expenses”. This section will take you through all of the items that might apply to you as a pilot or flight attendant.

When you open up the Employment Expenses page, you should see the following page:

You will want to answer YES to this page.

When you are asked if you have these types of expenses:

You will want to answer YES to this page.

When you are asked to enter your occupation:

Answer “Pilot” or “Flight Attendant”.

On the next page you will be asked about “Uncommon Situations”.

Check the box that states “You are in the transportation industry”. Then click the “Continue” button.

You then arrive at:

Most pilots and flight attendants will answer NO to this page.

Vehicle expenses are not common to most pilots and flight attendants. You may be able to deduct your mileage for trips to the doctor to get an FAA medical. Some union members might also be able to deduct mileage. Commuting is NOT deductible, so those expenses may not be included.

Most pilots and flight attendants will answer NO to this page. If you do have vehicle expenses, answer YES (this will be on EZPerDiem's Final Tax Report with the Letter A if you are in the view for TurboTax). The remainder of the TurboTax Guide assumes you answered NO.

Most pilots and flight attendants will not be able to justify any of the expenses on this page.

Most pilots and flight attendants will answer NO to this page

Next you are asked about Section 179 carryovers. Most pilots and flight attendants will not be able to justify any of the expenses on this page.

Most pilots and flight attendants will answer NO to this page.

Five expenses below are possible to pilots and flight attendants.

1. Parking, taxi and bus expenses must be non-commuting. You cannot write off expenses associated with getting to or from your tax home. If you had these expenses on EZPerDiem, they should be reflected next to the letter “B” on the TurboTax View of the Final Tax Report.

2. Travel expenses such as tips for shuttle drivers, internet access fees while in hotels, ATM fees on overnights, etc. If you entered everything into EZPerDiem, this should be reflected next to the letter “C” on the TurboTax View of the Final Tax Report.

3. Meal Expenses Covered by Department of Transportation Rules (this is the M&IE number from EZPerDiem that shows at the bottom of your per diem calculations on the Final Tax Report. It should be reflected next to the letter “D” on the TurboTax View of the Final Tax Report..

Education expenses for pilots and flight attendants is a commonly misunderstood topic. You cannot deduct expenses for education if that education is necessary to meet the minimum experience for an occupation. For example, if you are flight attendant, and you are taking flight lessons to become a pilot, those expenses are not deductible until you achieve you commercial pilot rating. At that point, any other training costs you incur, such as type-rating expenses may be deductible. Education expenses, if entered on EZPerDiem, is listed in the “Other Expenses” section of TurboTax. Be careful not to double-enter this expense when you enter other expenses on the following page.

Professional publications refers to expenses such as subscriptions to magazines or web publications within your trade. Professional publications, if entered on EZPerDiem, is listed in the “Other Expenses” section of TurboTax. Be careful not to double-enter this expense when you enter other expenses on the following page.

The EZPerDiem Expense Finder really helps with this section. Expenses that did not get entered into TurboTax yet should be entered on this page.

This is where you can enter other expenses like union dues, unreimbursed uniform expenses, the business portion of your cell phone, etc. Enter each item and continue.

On EZPerDiem's Final Tax Report, look at the list of “Other Expenses”. Copy each expense that you are deducting from EZPerDiem's “Other Expenses” section into TurboTax as shown below:

Note that the expenses above are examples only. The numbers are not indicative of actual amounts and the expenses listed are not necessarily deductible. For example, a belt is listed. However, if clothing is suitable for wearing outside of work, it would not be deductible.

Enter the applicable amounts from EZPerDiem into TurboTax and continue.

Reimbursements offset (reduce) the expenses you entered above.

If you received non-taxable per diem or if you were reimbursed for other expenses, you will answer YES to this question. Most crew members will answer YES to this question.

On this page, you are being asked if your employer keeps your per diem reimbursement separate from other job-related expenses. Most airline crew members would answer YES, but some corporate flight departments might answer NO.

If you received non-taxable per diem from your employer, you will answer YES to this question. Most crew members would answer YES to this question.

In this section, you will enter the reimbursements that apply to you. Most pilots and flight attendants receive nontaxable per diem. This amount should be shown on your W-2, Box 12, Code L. That number will go next to Reimbursement for DOT Meals and Entertainment.

Note for people without a number in Box 12, Code L:

If you do not have this number in your W-2, Box 12, Code L, then it is possible that the amount is already included as wages in your W-2, Box 1. It depends on how your company handles per diem. If that is the case, then you simply were not reimbursed for your meals. That does not mean that you don't benefit. You actually might say that you benefit more. If your per diem is lumped into Box 1, then your per diem was a wage, not a reimbursement. You should call your payroll department to verify, but if you were not reimbursed, then you will benefit more from the meal expenses than if you were reimbursed. You can think of it this way. Either way, you are eligible to deduct the meal expenses. Some companies might choose to count your per diem as a wage (which you pay taxes on), while other companies might include it as a reimbursement, which simply offsets your meal expenses.

Enter the applicable reimbursements that you were given. If you entered your non-taxable per diem into EZPerDiem, it should be reflected next to the letter “E” on the TurboTax View of the Final Tax Report. If you entered “other reimbursements” into EZPerDiem, it should be reflected next to the letter “F” on the TurboTax View of the Final Tax Report.

On this page, you are being asked about special situations. It is important to note that if you are a reservist who flies, you will want to answer NO for this employee expense form because the per diem expenses from EZPerDiem are for your civilian only job. If you are a reservist, you would go through the entire process again for the new job. This will generate two 2018 forms. You do not want to mix your civilian and military layovers, because the allowance and reimbursements are handled differently.

Note for crew members with spouses who fly or crew members who also fly in the National Guard.

You must go through this process for each job. So if your spouse flies, you would enter it once for yourself and again for your spouse.

If you fly civilian and in the National Guard, you would separate those two jobs and enter the civilian one, then the National Guard on. This means that if you are a reservist who flies, you will want to answer NO for this employee expense form because the per diem expenses from EZPerDiem are for your civilian only job. If you are a reservist, you would go through the entire process again for the military job. This will generate two different 2106 forms – one for your civilian job and another for your military job. You do not want to mix your civilian and military layovers, because the allowance and reimbursements are handled differently.

Congratulations! You have entered your flight crew expenses from EZPerDiem into TurboTax.