s/e client temporary living for work - for over 4 years...

[schirallicpa]

new client.  All the good ones come in late in the season.

Filing old returns.  Has not filed 13 - 16.  Self employed "project manager" whatever the heck that is.

Has residence in NY, has farm in NY, and since 2014 has wife in NY.  However, in 2011 he accepted contract work in North Carolina. Was supposed to be an 6-8 month gig.  Then they hired him again, another 6-8 months, and again, and again.  So supposedly he never knew if he could plan on being down there for long term, or if after each contract ended he was done.  He went home to NY once or twice a month to tend to personal stuff.  He does not have a home office. The company he was contracted with was only in NC, not in NY at all. He rented a small house in NC.  He actually did a really good job at keeping track of expenses right down to stamps bought, and burger king whoopers.  He did this thru mid 2015 and then took a regular job in NY.

Of course, he's asking me if he can just take per diem for all this, since it would be a lot more than his house rent and whoopers.

I'm a little nervous about where is tax home is.  

Can I take per diem for lodging?  Can we take per diem for food?  And can I take the travel back and forth from NY to NC?

How much can I charge for this one?

 

[grandmabee]

No per diem for lodging.  you have to start with is this a temporary job expected to last less than a year.  First 8 months seem so but not 4 years.  It is same job location?

if temporary job then yes you can se per diem for meals. I think you only get the one trip to job and back to home not all the extra trips home.  also get miles from temporary home to job site.  But only if temporary job.

[BulldogTom]

Was there any significant breaks between the contracts?  Otherwise, I think his tax home moved to NC when he exceeded 1 year working in NC.

Tom
Newark, CA

[jklcpa]

I agree with Tom and the others that this can't be considered temporary. Pub 463 differentiates between "temporary" and "indefinite", and if indefinite then that area becomes the tax home.  If you need a reference, MTG shows the IRC that covers this is sec 162(a) and also has  Rev Ruling 93-86 for "indefinite" and RR 99-7 for "temporary.  If you have a MTG, look in the index for "temporary vs indefinite test".