Per Diem

[Timothy J. Trace]

Greetings,

I am an IT contractor. My current assignment started in
April of last year, and will continue through May of this
year.

The assignment is 400 miles away, in north-eastern Oklahoma.
However, my primary residence is in eastern Missouri, over
400 miles away. Each week, I commute to "work"for a 4-day
stay. I pay all of the associated expenses out of pocket
(apartment rent, utilities, groceries, travel costs), and I
am not directly reimbursed for them. I have been very
careful to keep receipts for every expense.

My employer provides a per diem which they calculated to be
$5/hour off the top of my hourly wage. It seemed to be
quite a big deal for them to establish this per diem
arrangement. The $5/hour shows up on my pay stub as
non-taxable income, and does not appear to be included in
any box on my W-2.

Are the expenses incurred under this arrangement deductible,
or have I already received my tax credits in the form of
non-taxable income?

Best regards,

Tim ==
(substitute 'tcsys.com' for 'nospam.co.uk')