A common question we get has to do with unscheduled layovers in a pilot or flight attendant's domicile.  When a flight crew member has a trip that spans multiple days, the incur M&IE expenses on each of the days they are away from their tax home. But when a flight is canceled, often crew scheduling will put the crew member in a hotel near their domicile.

It is important to consider this scenario from the perspective of the IRS.  In the IRS's point of view, the pilot or flight attendant stayed at their tax home.  This means they did not travel away, so the trip they were on would technically end on that date and a new one would begin the next day.

Consider the following example:

Assume a flight attendant is ORD based and scheduled for a 4 day trip with overnights in IAD, LAX, and TPA.  Assume the trip was to begin on June 5 and end on June 8.  If the trip were flown as planned, that would mean the entries would look something like:

June 5 - IAD - day 1
June 6 - LAX - day 2
June 7 - TPA - day 3
June 8 - ORD - day 4


The actual per diem rate for the 4th day would be that of the previous day, but in EZPerDiem, you simply enter the place the day ended at.

Now, assume that the overnight on June 6 was canceled and the company put you in a hotel in ORD (your domicile) that day.  In this example, the trips would become:

June 5 - IAD - day 1
June 6 - ORD - day 2
June 7 - TPA - day 1
June 8 - ORD - day 2

So this means the trip really just became back-to-back two-days.  While this isn't the answer that most people wish to hear, it must be considered from the IRS perspective.