***NOTE*** The Federal Employee Business Expense deduction was suspended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This means that employed flight crew can no longer deduct their flying related expenses from their federal taxes. Some states, however, are still allowing the deduction from state income taxes. If you are not sure if your state allows it, ask us.
There are two types of deductions for pilots and flight attendants. First is out of pocket expenses such as uniforms, cell phone, union dues, etc. The second is the per diem allowance and deduction. We need both to prepare your tax returns.
Please use this online submit form to detail your flight attendant and pilot tax deductions. There are rules, of course, and you should familiarize yourself with them if you are not sure. However, the expenses listed below are generally allowed for most crewmembers. For example, we won’t ask you about shoes or nylons, these expenses are NOT deductible per a recent Tax Court case (read it here).
Per Diem Deduction Information
The government allows a deduction for each day that you are away from base. The IRS states that you can either itemize each layover city or you may take a standard rate per day (must pick one method for the year). It is to your advantage to provide your entire year’s flight schedules so your per Diem allowance can be calculated based on your specific flying. We will use the method that maximizes your deduction.
We also understand that obtaining and sending your schedule can be challenging. Therefore we have created an Overnights Worksheet so you can summarize your schedule.
This Flight Crew Expense Report is also available as a fill-able and save-able PDF. Super easy to complete and upload to us!