Day-trips are trips that a flight crewmember
works that do not include an overnight (i.e. layover). Day-trips
generally do not allow flight crewmembers to write off their
M&IE expenses on those
days because they do not involve a legitimate
rest period according to the
rules spelled out in
IRS Publication
463. In essence, the way Publication 463 spells out the M&IE deduction
is that crewmembers can write of M&IE expenses when the travel away from their
tax home AND stay away
long enough that a rest period is necessary. The rest period does not have
anything to do with FAA rest requirements. The rest requirement that the
IRS is referring to is
described in IRS Publication 463.
The
EZPERDIEM.COM Per Diem Calculator
TM automatically prevents a
crewmember from entering day trips. In the rare case of a crewmember
having a trip that left early in the morning, returning late that evening, and
meeting the rest requirements of IRS Publication 463, the crewmember could
simply enter that trip as a two-day trip.
