Truckers who live in their trucks can earn more money. It simply comes down to being one of the few truckers who are willing to go long distances without any demands of needing to be back home by any certain day or time, because there is no home to go to. If you are an owner-operator and are willing to essentially become homeless in order to make more money by taking jobs that are further away, there's one important thing you'll need to do: establish a home base.
Doing this can save immensely on your taxes, which is a must-do with the substantial increase in income you'll likely see from being available to take more higher-paying jobs. Here's why and what you need to know.
You cannot deduct certain expenses if you are itinerant
An itinerant is someone who travels from place to place without having a home. You may be more familiar with the terms gypsy and vagabond, which are essentially the same things. When you are itinerant, it's a given that you eat meals out of the home and sometimes stay in lodging overnight. Usually, these are tax deductible expenses someone can take when they are away from home. However, as an itinerant, there is no home to be away from, which means those expenses are not unusual for your lifestyle and, therefore, non-deductible.
You can establish a home base so you can take federal tax deductions
You can legally establish a home base and still maintain the lifestyle of an itinerant as you find and fulfill long-hauling jobs. However, you will have to be careful to meet all of the requirements of the state where your home base will be. Each state has it's own regulations and stipulations, which can be found on the various state tax authority websites. Of course, if you really want to save on your taxes, consider one of the seven states with no income tax.
It's not as simple as getting a post office box somewhere, but there are a few other things you can do to go above and beyond to show your intentions of being a state resident, including paying rent and utilities and having a primary care physician and a regular dentist. Find a tiny apartment or a room for rent to use as your home base, even if you will not be there on a regular basis. This will also give you a place where you can receive mail and store your belongings, which will cut down on expenses since you won't need a PO box or a storage unit.
Consider these things while you're looking at owner operator jobs so you can decide what you want to do about your residence.
Share13 May 2017
Typically, my husband and I ask our neighbor to give us a ride to the airport when we are going on a trip. In return, we drive her when she needs a ride there. However, we were going out of town soon and she was feeling under the weather, so I decided to go about seeking other arrangements. I was surprised to learn just how many ways one could get to the airport. You could take a limo, town car, taxi or ride share. I created this website to give information about each of these options and answer some of the questions you may have about each option.