Day Trips Are Never Business Travel: The Sleep-or-Rest Rule That Erases Your Meal Deduction
Day trips are never business travel under the IRS sleep-or-rest rule: same-day meals are nondeductible and day-trip per diems are taxable wages.
#accountable-plan
Accountable Plan
IRS accountable plans for reimbursing owners and employees tax-free under Treasury Regulation 1.62-2, including the business connection, substantiation, and return-of-excess rules, plus mileage, home office, and supply reimbursements for S corporations and small businesses
Your Employees Use Personal Phones for Work — in California and a Dozen Other States, You Owe Them Money for It
California and Illinois require reimbursement of work-required phone use, even on unlimited plans — here is how to set a defensible monthly stipend.
Hired and Non-Owned Auto Insurance: Who Pays When Employees Drive Their Own Cars
If an employee crashes their own car on a work errand, your business can be sued. HNOA covers that liability gap — what it covers, excludes and costs.
IRS Raises High-Low Per Diem to $329/$230 on October 1: What Notice 2026-60 Means for Your Accountable Plan
IRS Notice 2026-60 lifts high-low per diem to $329 high-cost and $230 elsewhere from Oct 1, 2026; meal rates stay $86/$74. Update your accountable plan now.
Bringing Your Spouse on a Business Trip? When Their Travel Is Deductible (and When It Lands on Your W-2)
Your spouse's travel is deductible only if they are your employee on a bona fide business trip — otherwise the IRS treats employer-paid costs as W-2 wages.
FAVR Vehicle Reimbursement, Explained: Pay High-Mileage Drivers Tax-Free Without the Flat-Allowance Tax Waste
FAVR pays drivers tax-free with a fixed monthly allowance plus a per-mile rate — but it needs five drivers, 5,000 miles each, and a quarterly IRS ceiling test.
GSA Raised FY2027 Per Diem Rates to $181 a Day: Update Your Accountable Plan Before October 1
GSA's FY2027 standard per diem is $181/day — $113 lodging plus $68 M&IE from October 1. Update your accountable plan or the IRS taxes them as wages.
Your Business Cell Phone Can Be 100% Tax-Free: What the IRS Actually Requires
Employer cell phones are tax-free with no call logs under IRS Notice 2011-72 if provided for business reasons; internet needs an accountable plan and receipts.
Volunteer Firefighter and EMT Taxes: Stipends, Per-Call Pay, Property-Tax Breaks, and LOSAP Awards
Volunteer firefighters and EMTs are usually employees for federal tax purposes, so stipends and per-call pay are W-2 wages. Section 139B excludes up to $50 for each month of service ($600 a year) plus qualified state and local tax benefits; LOSAP awards accrue tax-deferred under an $8,000 cap for 2026 and are taxed as ordinary income on payout with no FICA; only accountable-plan reimbursements stay off the W-2.
Return-to-Office Mandates Have Tax Consequences Too: Commuter Benefits, Office Deductions, and the Home-Office Write-Off Your Team Just Lost
Bringing staff back on-site changes payroll tax, benefits, and deductions at once. For 2026 the Section 132(f) exclusions are $340/month each for transit/vanpool and qualified parking, saving employers about 7.65% of every pre-tax dollar; W-2 employees can no longer deduct home-office costs, so route equipment through an accountable plan instead.
Working Condition Fringe Benefits: How to Make Job Tools, Software, and Education Tax-Free in 2026
Under IRC Section 132(d), employers can exclude job tools, software, and job-related education from employee wages as working condition fringe benefits when the cost would have been deductible if the employee paid it. This guide covers the deduction test, the substantiation rules for cash reimbursements, how Section 127's $5,250 educational assistance limit differs, and a bookkeeping workflow that keeps qualifying benefits out of taxable payroll.
Is a Remote Work Stipend Taxable? Accountable Plans, Substantiation, and What Lands on the W-2
A $75-a-month internet stipend paid without documentation is supplemental wages — reportable in W-2 Box 1 and costing the employer roughly 7.65% in matching payroll tax on top. The same $75 is tax-free and off the W-2 under a written accountable plan meeting all three tests in Treasury Regulation 1.62-2 — business connection, substantiation within 60 days, and return of excess within 120 days. This guide covers the two IRS paths, the five mistakes that flip a plan to taxable, the separate GL accounts and payroll pay types that keep the treatment straight, and the state statutes that require reimbursement regardless of federal tax treatment.