One of the federal benefits EANGUS and LANGEA has helped secure in the past is recognition of out-of-pocket expenses for Guardsmen who travel significant distances to serve for their drill weekends. Current tax law allows currently serving Guardsmen and reservists who travel 100 miles away from home (one way) or more to:
- Deduct mileage expense of 56.5 cents per mile.
- Deduct the cost of your lodging if your unit does not provide lodging. You must utilize receipts for these claims.
- Deduct ½ the cost of your meals while traveling to/from drill and meals during the drill weekend. You must utilize receipts for these claims.
You would report these expenses on Form 1040, line 24, and do not have to itemize them on Schedule A. However, we recommend you keep your detailed receipts and records of how you arrived at the deduction amount on hand, in the event you ever need to prove the deductions.
ALSO: If you have to travel to shooting ranges for training at your own expense, you may deduct those unreimbursed expenses. The same goes for anyone serving in Civil Air Patrol. For both of these, there is no minimum distance.
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