Mileage reimbursement
If crew members use personal vehicles for any part of a job — running for supplies, shuttling between locations — mileage reimbursement at a standard rate is common practice and generally isn't treated as taxable income, as long as it's a genuine reimbursement for business use rather than disguised extra pay.
Per diem for overnight jobs
Per diem — a fixed daily allowance for meals and incidentals on multi-day jobs — is a common way to handle overnight long-distance moves without collecting individual receipts for every meal. Structured correctly, per diem within reasonable daily limits generally isn't treated as taxable wages.
Per diem that's really just extra pay dressed up as an expense allowance — paid regardless of whether the employee actually traveled — can be reclassified as taxable wages if scrutinized.
Keep it separate from regular pay in your records
Mileage and per diem should be tracked and reported separately from hourly or flat-rate pay in your payroll system, not folded into a single lump payment — this keeps the tax treatment clean and the records defensible if ever questioned.
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