on the Form 2106-EZ. The $4473 of unreimbursed expenses is for Meals and Entertainment of which he is allowed to deduct 50% of his $8,946 unreimbursed expenses.
Let me first say that I am an Accountant by trade, and I am a former DoD Auditor so I know how the system works. I don't think any of these expenses are for Entertainment, I believe they are for meals. So what this says to me is that as a Congressman who chooses to commute to his job in Wash D.C. rather than relocate to his job, he can claim in addition to his Salary of $174,000 which is probably hitting that ceiling of the top 10% of the population, costs for his meals, too. Since I can't tell for certain, whether these $8,946 Unreimbursed Meals represent simultaneously ALL the meals claimed or just those Unreimbursed Meals since the law only allows you to claim 50% of your Unreimbursed meals. Or the Unreimbursed Meals amount may be due to, lets say if the Per Diem Rate for Meals and Incidentals in Washington DC is $46 per day for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and You spend $100, the Government reimburses you for $46 and you have Unreimbursed meal expense of $54 which you can then tally up and then claim these costs as Unreimbursed Meals on your Tax Return, thus getting two bits at the Proverbial Apple.
I bring this up because my job does not pay for my meals when I come to work, nor do most people's jobs, so why should Congressmen get reimbursed for their meals. Also if I am offered a job that requires me to work in Wash DC, I don't get to claim Per Diem for the entire time I am there, only during the brief time I am in a Relocation/Travel Status.
Also, if you are only claiming reimbursement of your Meals and Incidentals during the time you're allowed Per Diem, you don't have to provide receipts for your meals as long as you aren't claiming any costs in excess of the Per Diem Allowance. So my guess is that Honest Bernie is Claiming reimbursement for his meals twice. Once for those meals that he is reimbursed, where his government job pays him in cash. And secondly, he is claiming on his taxes any unreimbursed meals as a tax expense which goes to reduce his taxable expenses.
Now either we should ALL be able to claim reimbursement for our meals when we come to work or NONE of us should be. This shouldn't be something only allowed to Congressmen. There was a time when members of Congress relocated to Wash DC from their home states with their families and lived in Wash DC. During that time, Congressmen and women from both sides of the aisle got to know one another much better because they were not commuters, but lived in the local area and socialized with one another outside of the office which made for a much better working relationship. Now that the Government pays for them to commute to their jobs, they work less, 3 days a week instead of 5 days a week, and they get paid to fly or take the train to come to work and they get to commute on Mondays and Fridays which makes for a much shorter work week, and Bernie Sanders was a member of Congress when all these rules changed.
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