Trucking school doesn’t just enable you to get a commercial driver’s license, but it allows you to start a career and earn money as a company employee or owner and operator. To ensure you’re not giving the IRS more than their fair share of your earnings in April, it’s a good idea to get organized now. When you pay attention to your records throughout the year, preparing your taxes should be relatively pain-free.  

Take Advantage of Deductions

After you graduate trucking school, you can expect to incur expenses directly related to earning your paycheck. Many of these expenses are deductible on your income tax return. They might include some or all of the following:

• Vehicle fuel, maintenance, and repairs
• Travel expenses, including lodging, laundry, and mileage
• Union dues
• Licensing and regulatory fees
• Liability insurance premiums
• Medical exams
• Meal expenses

Not all expenses can be deducted in full. For example, you can normally only deduct 50% of your meal expenses. In some instances, you might deduct 80% of your meal cost if you travel away from home and the meal takes place during business hours. Your tax professional can help you make the distinction.

Recordkeeping Is Vital

Everyone knows to hold on to their 1099 and W-2 forms, but, as a truck driver, you must also keep records of all expenses you plan to deduct on your income tax return. While you’re probably keeping a logbook to record the number of hours or miles driven, this is not enough to support your deduction expenses on your tax return. For your travel expenses, you’ll want to keep receipts of lodging and any other expenses incurred on the road. You might want to file all your receipts in one location to make them easy to find during tax time.

Before you can take advantage of tax deductions as a truck driver, you must go to trucking school. The Professional Driver Institute offers truck driver training in Churchville, NY. Their licensed and accredited trucking school helps you get your CDL license. They go above and beyond to help their graduates with job placements; most of their drivers start their career within one month of graduation. To learn more about their classes, visit their website or give them a call at (585) 293-1203.