I will see your question and raise it one!
What about the fact that the only thing withheld is the federal income tax? What about social security? My tax guy got done with all my stuff, and called the IRS (anonymously). They say that's fine, but it's not their department.
What does this imply for our social security benefits when we retire? That we only get from them what we've paid up to now? I guess that's okay, since I could no doubt do better by investing it myself, but I'd sure hate to get caught down the road and owe a bunch to social security.
BTW, my tax guy went through the issue of per diem. I gave him a few typical payments that we get (roughly 100 bucks for 24h), and he said that the difference between the allowed me&i vs what we get paid is basically negligible. Add the fact that it's all in cash with no real written record and to me it seems an invitation for auditing. But we're both pretty conservative with all that.
