October 9, 2019

• As of January 1, 2020 – the per diem rate for meals and incidentals are $71/day in high cost areas and $60/day elsewhere. Self-employed individuals who travel are allowed to use these rates instead of receipts BUT lodging costs MUST be substantiated with receipts. The full per diem is $297 (high costs) and $200 for other areas.
• Normally, to exclude the gain from the sale of your primary home, you need to have lived in the home 2 out of the last 5 years. However, if you have a parent who was transferred to a nursing home, the test is one out of the last five years.
• 6.6% or 14.4 million pieces of mail sent by the IRS is un-deliverable every year – but the rate has decreases from 19.3 pieces of mail in 2009. Good job IRS! Each piece of mail costs $3 to mail.