Why is the first day and last day of a trip show 75%?

Every trip that a pilot or flight attendant flies with at least one rest period (layover) entitles the flight crew member to write off M&IE expenses.  The M&IE expenses incurred for each day are the applicable per diem rate for the city where the overnight occurred times the proration amount for the day.  The first and last day of a trip are called partial days.  This is because you spend less than 24 hours away from your tax home on partial days.  In other words, if you start a trip at 5:00 pm, that first day would only have 7 hours away from your tax home.  According to IRS Publication 463, partial days should be prorated at 75% of the per diem rate used.

Note that the nomenclature in IRS Publication 463 is a bit ambiguous, and it could be interpreted that 100% for the partial days is allowed.  EZPerDiem does not take a stand on the debate as to whether the first and last day should be 75% or 100%.  Rather, we default the partial days to 75% and then give crew members the option to change it to 100% on the Tools & Settings Page.

It is up to you or your tax preparer to decide what proration amount is suitable for you, however the safest (and most common) thing to do is to leave it at the default 75% amount.  Yet, if you decide it should be 100%, we provide the tools for you to change it quickly and easily.