U.S. may fast track meal deduction changes

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A plan is afoot south of the border to bump the maximum allowable meal deduction to 80 per cent of the total bill for 2002 rather than the originally planned 2008.

Sen. Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, has the support of the American Trucking Associations and the 600,000-member National Federation of Independent Business, for his Small Business Works Act. Bond is the ranking minority member of the Senate Small Business Committee.

Currently in the U.S., the maximum amount deductible is 60 per cent of the meal’s cost. In Canada, these levels are much lower with truckers only permitted to claim 50 per cent of a maximum $33 per day. However, a Winnipeg trucker recently won his appeal and managed to claim $48 — so increases may be expected here soon, as well.

In a previous push by Truck News and the Canadian Trucking Alliance to get the maximum deduction raised, the feds’ answer was that the U.S. and Canada weren’t all that far apart and by the time 2008 rolled around, ‘we’ll raise our levels, too.’

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Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


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