February 16, 2019

114724 Views

10 Most Asked Tax Questions of Travel Nurses

Posted on February 16, 2019June 27, 2023 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

This article is the third in a series of articles we’re calling “Truth in Travel Nursing.” Designed to provide reliable information to travel nurses, we hope these articles help clear up what we feel are some common misconceptions in the travel nursing profession today.

As Tax Season is upon us, we’ve prepared for you, answers to the TOP 10 Tax Questions of Travel Nurses.

The goal of a good tax preparer isn’t simply to prepare a historical document – which is the real substance of a tax return. It is their job to help the client plan for the future and find ways to reduce their tax burden going forward. With that in mind, a few of the most frequently asked questions we, as tax preparation professionals, now receive actually have dual answers!

Are you new to Travel Nursing?

Start with our Travel Nursing Guide.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

May 15, 2018

55649 Views

I Use an RV for Travel Nursing– Can I Deduct The Expenses?

Posted on May 15, 2018April 29, 2024 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

Using an RV or 5th Wheel as your assignment lodging is a great way to work as a traveler. It removes the dreaded task of loading/unloading your vehicle with each assignment and having to find another apartment. Even though an RV, 5th Wheel, and Travel Trailer are similar terms, we will use the word “RV” to avoid repetition.
RVs are not cheap, and some cost more than a regular home. It’s quite an investment. Paying apartment rent at assignments is equally as expensive, and once spent, the money is gone. Unlike an RV, the place is still yours.

So…. Can you deduct your RV expenses?

If you rented an apartment at the assignment, you would deduct the expenses less any per diem you received. Since an RV is bought as a substitute for an apartment or rented home, you would think that RV expenses would also be deductible when used in the same manner.

First, let’s clear one hurdle.

To deduct ANY travel-related expense for assignments, a traveler must maintain a qualifying tax residence. Not just a permanent legal residence which is something different. A tax home is your Principal Place of income, OR when a person does not have a main place of work, their tax home can be at their principal residence if they have substantial expenses to maintain their dwelling that is duplicated when at an assignment.

Second, an RV must be a SECOND residence.

If you travel in an RV and do not maintain a job or have the main dwelling that you incur a financial burden for, we have failed the tests. Some RVers will leave behind an empty pad or vacant land and do not have a second residence for lodging. A pad or vacant land is not a dwelling.

Now that the basic stuff is covered, let’s get to our question about deducting the RV expenses.

RVs are considered a “residence” in the Tax Code

1) RVs are considered a “residence” in the Tax Code and, more specifically, a “dwelling unit.” Basically, anything that one can live in with adequate provisions for a living can rise to this level. RVs, boats, apartments, and homes are all included
in this category. Just as mortgage interest and real estate taxes are allowed as a deduction for the main residence, interest is paid on an RV and boat loan. Property taxes substitute for real estate taxes in RVs, so those payments to local governments are deductible as well.
But what about the rest of the expenses?

RVs fall under a peculiar part of the tax code

2) Since an RV is a “dwelling unit” and considered a residence, it falls under a peculiar part of the tax code (§280A ) that places specific restrictions on deductible expenses for dwelling units. Whenever one uses a dwelling for more than 14 days for personal lodging or >10% of days in which the dwelling unit is rented to other parties, deductions for the dwelling are limited to income derived from the RV or within the RV (like an office in the home) or not allowed at all.

Unfortunately, the rule in #2 answers the question that many travelers ask. It would be one thing to rent someone else’s RV on the road, but owning the RV as a residence triggers limitations that keep personal living expenses from becoming business expenses. Once you watch TV in the RV or do any personal act, you are using the RV for personal purposes as a dwelling and cannot deduct any further expenses. This is true even though you are using the RV as a second residence to deduct rent for an apartment at the assignment location normally. The ownership changes the deal.

Summary:

As a traveler using your RV as a work residence, you can deduct interest and taxes on the RV. You cannot deduct the costs of the RV nor depreciate the RV since it is used as a residence for> 14 days. As to the housing per diem, it applies to other expenses such as paying rent. Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

References:
Jackson v Commissioner TC Memo 2014-160,
Dunford v Commissioner TC Memo 2013-189

By The Gypsy Nurse

July 6, 2016

27070 Views

Ask A Travel Nurse: Tax Home

Posted on July 6, 2016September 29, 2023 by The Gypsy Nurse

Gypsy,

I am a travel nurse and am wondering if you have any advice about establishing a tax home? I won’t be keeping my apartment here, so will that mean everything I make will be taxed? I know my hourly wage will be, but the per diem wage the travel company gives you will be taxed? I have thought about asking a friend to let me use their address, but I don’t want to get screwed at tax time! Any advice?

Thanks!
Tiff

Thank you for reading The Gypsy Nurse. You have taken the first step on your journey to becoming a travel nurse.

If you do not have a legal tax home, everything you are given should be taxed as income, including any per diem or housing. Many travel nurses will scoot around this by keeping an address with a friend or family member; however, there are HUGE risks with this. Suppose you are audited and cannot PROVE that you have paid ‘market value’ for a room/apartment/etc. Then, you will be back-taxed with penalties and fees. For me, the risk is too great, so I have always had a true tax home. At times, this was a full apartment of my own, and at other times, it was a rented room.

I HIGHLY recommend that you speak to a tax prep professional. I recommend that you contact a travel tax expert for your tax-related questions. I use Joe Smith @ TravelTax. Joe is well-versed and up to date with traveler taxes. His wife also writes tax advice for The Gypsy Nurse. I have used Travel Tax for my tax questions and needs for the entire time I’ve been a travel nurse, and I trust his advice. If you have more questions regarding tax home, subscribe to The Gypsy Nurse. I have upcoming articles on housing and an upcoming article from Travel Tax in October that will discuss Tax Home status in more detail.

I love hearing the opinions of my readers. Your opinion could be the perfect solution for someone. Please share your thoughts below in the comments. Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

(Disclaimer: Please note that this is the Authors opinion only. I do not provide career counseling, legal or medical consults. If you require any of these, please search out the appropriate resources)

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

By The Gypsy Nurse

June 17, 2016

16455 Views

Talking Taxes: What is Tax Advantage?

Posted on June 17, 2016February 24, 2022 by The Gypsy Nurse

Figuring out what a ‘Tax Advantage’ program is can be confusing.

Many travel nursing agencies will offer tax-free portions of your pay and most will refer to this as some sort of “Tax Advantage Program”.

Travel Nurses MAY be eligible for tax-free reimbursements or allotments if they meet certain restrictions. We will discuss these restrictions at a later date. I consulted with my tax experts at Travel Tax and asked them to explain the Tax Advantage Program.

Daina Smith: “The first thing to realize is that a “tax advantage program” is a marketing term. It is not some sort of legal tax break that Congress passed for the benefit of travel nurses. A company that advertises a “tax advantage program” is doing nothing different from a company that gives you per diems and other tax-free reimbursements. It is just like the store that offers you a “two for one deal.” There are doing nothing different from a store is giving you 50% off. One term appeals to one group of shoppers more than the other = marketing.”

Gypsy Nurse: “Ok, that makes it a little easier to understand. Now, Why do I care about tax advantage, and does it even benefit me?”

Daina Smith: “Now that we are done explaining what tax advantage programs are, let us get down to talking about taxes. (Yeah, the boring part.) Occasionally in talking to clients, we hear the comment that there is no reason to make reimbursements in advance from their company when the same amount of money can be deducted at the end of the year on their tax return.

These clients usually have no immediate need for the cash upfront and think that it would be wiser on their part to save all the deductions until the end of the year, so they will have one whopping refund instead of the cash now. And that is true in the purest sense. But based on our current system of tax laws, there is a tax advantage that you get by taking them in advance: you bypass your Social Security and Medicare Taxes.

When you take deductions on your tax return, you are recouping the income taxes you paid for the year; there is no provision to get a refund on payroll taxes. In 2012 the rate for SS and Medicare is 5.65%. The person that takes $8000 in deductions on their tax return instead of taking it as reimbursements from their employer, loses out on the $454 that was withheld as payroll taxes.”

To Summarize: Daina Smith

1) The company that says “we offer a tax advantage program” is not giving you anything different from the one who reimburses you for your miles and gives you meal per diems or housing stipends.

2) There is an advantage to taking these reimbursements from your company instead of deducting them at the end of the year.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of a Tax Advantage Program. Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

January 20, 2015

11324 Views

ACA Tax Implications for Travelers

Posted on January 20, 2015January 26, 2023 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

Guest Article provided by: Joseph Smith @ Traveltax.com

ACA (aka “Obamacare”) requires all individuals carry health insurance starting with the 2014 tax year. Here is some information on ACA tax implications for travel nurses:

Since travelers are highly susceptible to gaps in employment, they are more likely to be subject to the penalties assessed for the lack of coverage. Additionally, travelers who intend to use the health insurance exchanges and associated tax credits will have difficulty predicting their subsidy due to the income swings that occur with their various contracts.

ACA Tax Implications

The next series of articles will look at the ACA mandate and its impact on travelers by first focusing on how penalties for non-compliance are assessed. In the next installment, we will look at the mechanics of the tax credits that are available to those who procure health insurance from the exchanges.

Penalties

The penalty for not carrying qualified health insurance coverage starts in 2014 at 1% of income or $95, whichever is greater. In 2015, the penalty rises to $325 per person or 2% of income; and in 2016, $695 or 2.5% of income. The penalty applies for any month that an individual is not covered and is prorated if the individual fails to carry insurance less than 12 months of the year. Since travelers run the risk of losing employer based health insurance during the periods between assignments, they are subject to the penalty unless they procure another policy or continue the policy provided by the last employer through COBRA.

GAPS in Coverage

Under the ACA regulations, if an individual has coverage for one day in a month, they are credited as having coverage the entire month. This potentially allows a traveler to gap coverage for nearly two consecutive months so long as the coverage ends and starts in each month. Some health insurance providers follow a calendar month cycle, meaning that coverage continues until the last day of the month even if a traveler finishes an assignment in the first week of the month.

Exemption for Gaps in Coverage

Though the penalty applies for any month an individual does not have coverage, there is an exemption available for those whose coverage gap is less than three consecutive months. This exemption is only allowed once a calendar year so if the exemption is used in the early part of the year, it cannot be used again in the latter part. If there is a second gap in coverage during the calendar year, a separate “hardship exemption” can be requested. “Hardship” exemptions include a number of specific situations including a death of a family member or bankruptcy filings; however, most all of them require some form of documentation. Hardship exemptions are filed separately from the annual tax return unlike the regular exemptions.

Since the ACA regulations incorporate a one day = one month convention, a traveler could have almost 5 months of coverage gaps and still qualify for the exemption, so long as the coverage ended sometime during Month 1 and coverage with a new policy began in Month 5.

Coverage gaps that extend through one calendar year and into the next have a specific counting rule.

If a traveler does not carry coverage the last two months of the year, when they file their tax return for that year, they report a two month gap in coverage which would qualify for a regular exemption. The counting for the second year incorporates the previous year end gap.

EXAMPLE: If the traveler continues without coverage for the first two months of the second year, they will be considered to have a gap in coverage for 4 months in that year and be subject to the penalty. A peculiar situation can arise when a traveler gaps coverage in November, December and January. For the first year, there is a two month gap which is covered under the regular exemptions. For the second year, the gap is a three month gap, again, covered under the regular exemptions; however, since the regular exemption is used, a subsequent second gap in that calendar year requires a hardship exemption.

Filing Taxes

Since ACA compliance disclosure is incorporated in the annual tax return filing, it adds another layer of complexity to set of forms required with each return. Most taxpayers will receive Form 1095 that evidences health insurance coverage. An additional form currently being developed will be used to report the information on the 1095 series forms when the return is filed. Search and download forms HERE.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

By The Gypsy Nurse

April 11, 2014

36968 Views

Making Sense of Travel Reimbursements

Posted on April 11, 2014March 2, 2022 by The Gypsy Nurse

Sponsored by: Aya Healthcare
Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

Before you sign on the dotted line and hit the open road, one of the things you should consider is travel reimbursements.

It’s unusual to get the entire trip covered but the following guidelines will help you get the most out of your reimbursement. Most companies will offer some sort of travel reimbursement to the traveler (you). This is varied from company to company. Below is a break-down of the most common types of travel reimbursements. There may be others but these are the options that I have encountered.

Flat rate reimbursement is the most common. What this typically involves is a flat rate to and from the contract. The amount of this can range anywhere on average from $250 – $500. Most of the time you will receive the contracted on amounts on your first and last pay-checks for the contract. This amount is non-taxable reimbursement. There will be no taxes taken from the contracted amount.

Aya Healthcare offers a generous relocation reimbursement to and from your travel assignment.

Per Mile reimbursements: There are other companies that will reimburse you via a specified mileage rate. This is generally lower than the GSA mileage rate and most times, the company will cap this.

In either of the above cases, the traveler will have to foot part of the bill for travel. For example: Traveler is currently in Cincinnati, OH and taking a contract in San Diego, CA. This is approximately 2164 miles. If the company offers you $0.45/mile up to a maximum of $250 or if you have a flat rate of even $500 you are going to come out quite short. 2164 x $0.45 = $973.80. Travel companies are NOT going to pay you this large of an amount for travel.

This doesn’t even take into consideration that you will have to have several overnight stays if driving this distance which will incur not only food but also lodging in transit. These expenses although not covered will be able to be taken as a deduction on your year-end tax return. Make certain that you keep good records.

Provided (flights): This method is not utilized frequently (except contracts in Alaska/Hawaii). Basically, you or the company will purchase an airline ticket (one-way) and the company will cover the cost.

Most generally, a rental car is not included. There are some cases where the company will cover a rental car (most generally in Alaska/Hawaii). In other cases, the company may offer to pay for a monthly public transportation pass (you may have to ask for this). You will need to consider the availability of public transit in the proposed location to determine if it is feasible to utilize a flight and public transportation.

Remember, the option that was the most beneficial for this contract may not be the most beneficial for EVERY contract. Explore your options for EACH contract. This is just one piece of the pie when it comes to Contract Negotiations.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

By The Gypsy Nurse

January 23, 2014

9559 Views

Talking Travel Nurse Taxes: The Regional Traveler

Posted on January 23, 2014May 20, 2021 by The Gypsy Nurse

Talking Travel Nurse Taxes – The Regional Traveler:

What Happens When You Return Home Frequently During Assignments

Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

Many travelers take assignments significant distances from their home but there are some that journey shorter distances, traveling within a few hours’ drive. These assignments allow the traveler to stay close to home, spend time with family, or attend to other priorities that preclude a long-distance assignment.

Most staffing contracts design tax-free per diem payments for lodging and meals around a 7 day a week payment with the assumption that the regional traveler will be away from home overnight at the assignment location for the duration of the contract.

This assumption creates some thorny tax issues for travelers that travel shorter distances and return home frequently – especially those that stay in hotels or only rent accommodations during workdays.

Before we explain how frequent returns home affect taxes, it may be good to discuss how per diem payments function. That will be the focus of this first part of the series.

The Per Diem Payment – How it Functions

In a perfect world, when an employee incurs travel-related expenses for meals and lodging, they will submit their receipts to a designated individual who approves a reimbursement, or the employee has an expense account allowing them to use a corporate credit card which is reviewed at various intervals. When an operation has a large number of employees traveling, it can become a huge administrative task to track all the employee expenses.

The IRS Allowance

To reduce the compliance burden on businesses, the IRS allows the use of a per diem (meaning per day) payment to cover meals and lodging expenses in lieu of actual receipts. The Federal government has long published standardized, daily rates for lodging and meals for its own use, and businesses are allowed to use these published rates in computing the amount they pay to their employees. The IRS also allows an individual to use the meal portion of the per diem tables for their personal tax returns. These per diem rates are based on a standard amount and adjusted for higher-cost areas like large cities or foreign countries. In lieu of receipts, a business can pay any amount up to the published rate for lodging and meals. Anything above the published rate requires a receipt. An employer is also free to pay less than the published rate so long as the meal and lodging component is accounted for as the IRS does not allow lodging only per diems.

How the Staffing Agencies comply

Many staffing agencies use the per diem method to reimburse travelers for lodging and meals if they are not directly paying a landlord or providing lodging themselves. The per diem method of reimbursement has an interesting twist that confuses many travelers but also presents a savvy method to maximize take-home pay. Under the per diem method, expenses for lodging and meals are deemed to be the same as the per diem payment. What does that mean? If the per diem is $100 and the lodging only costs $50, the cost is treated as the $100 payment. The excess over the actual expense is ignored and continues to be treated tax-free. In other words, the traveler keeps the difference. This seems contrary to conventional thinking, but the rationale behind the provision is that the expense in tracking the payments is more than the tax revenue forfeited when the excess is free of tax.

Why does this Effect the Traveler?

This sets up a thorny tax issue for the traveler who frequently returns home while working an assignment a few hours away. Under the per diem method of reimbursement, the recipient of the allowance must incur an expense for each day the tax-free payment is made. If the traveler gets a hotel room for 3 nights and sleeps at home for 4 nights, 4/7 of the lodging per diem is taxable – or, alternatively, the excess of the per diem over the expense. The same principle applies to a trucker who sleeps in their cab at night cannot receive a tax-free lodging per diem- it must be treated as wages since there was no lodging expense to justify the payment.

In the next part, we will explore this more fully and provide examples of how this applies to a number of situations.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

November 21, 2013

11986 Views

Talking Taxes: The “Abandonment” Issue Regarding Tax Homes, Part 2

Posted on November 21, 2013May 7, 2021 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

The Traveler Tax Home “Abandonment” Issue

Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

In last month’s installment, we explored a relatively new rule some agencies impose after a traveler has worked 2 years of assignments, requiring them to return home for 45 days. In some cases, the traveler must work at home during the 45 day period before returning to travel. As we mentioned, there are variations of the rule, but in all of them, a substantial visit to the home is required after two years of service.

Where did this come from?

For some, this may be a boring trip through the history of tax legislation, but for those of us who like to know “why” as well as “what,” understanding the rationale of regulation is very insightful.

Before 1992, back when I traveled (I’m dating myself obviously), there was no “one year rule” that limited an assignment in one geographical area before the per diems / reimbursements became taxable. Before 1992, one could not be away from home longer than a year regardless of location. A “rebuttable presumption” that any work away from home longer than a year was either permanent or caused the taxpayer to be treated as an itinerant (no tax home). The one-year presumption could be overcome (rebut the presumption) if the taxpayer could provide evidence that they would return home permanently before the end of 2 years. Any series of assignments away from home for more than 2 years, regardless of location, would cause the taxpayer to be treated as having a permanent/indefinite job or classified as an itinerant. Under these old rules, a traveler could actually stay in the same area 2 years before per diems / reimbursements were taxed

All of this changed with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

The 1-2 year rule defining work away from home was changed to the current rule defining temporary, work away from home to work which did not last more than one year in one geographical area once the taxpayer works in the same geographical region for more than a year their tax home shifts to the current place of work. The change of focus from away from home regardless of location to away from home in one area recognized the increasing mobilization of America’s workforce.

Fast forward to 2013 – if you recall..

… the definition of a traveler tax home is one of an economical home (not a permanent residence- those are two different concepts). In other words, it is where one works, not where they live. If a person has 1 permanent job, the area of that job is their tax residence whether they drive 1 mile or 100 miles to get there. A traveler does not have a primary job site unless they stay in the same area for over a year or have repetitive assignments in the same area. When one does not have a primary area where they earn their income, the tax home can default to the traveler’s permanent residence provided two of three of the following tests are satisfied.

The Traveler

1) Has significant income at home

2) Has substantial expenses maintaining a residence which are duplicated while on assignment

3) Has not abandoned their historical area of work and residence

This brings us back to the 45-day rule that some agencies are implementing. There is a belief among many tax practitioners that the IRS views the “abandonment rule” within the structure of the old tax home rules. Specifically, if a taxpayer is away from home for more than two years, they have abandoned their residence and fail criteria #3 as noted above. This is separate from the current one year rule limiting temporary assignments to 12 months in one geographical area.

When an agency uses this 45-day rule, it is attempting to graft due diligence to ensure that the traveler has not abandoned their tax residence. This is important as an agency must exercise reasonable due diligence to screen and monitor its employees’ tax home status. Otherwise, the IRS would assess severe penalties on an agency for paying tax-free reimbursements for lodging, travel, and meals without a justifiable basis.

While this is an understandable effort at compliance, it leaves travelers who return home frequently in a bit of a quandary. Our firm believes that regular returns home during the year totaling 30 days in a 12 month calendar period is better than a 45-day return after a two-year absence. Unfortunately, some agencies take an inflexible approach to this rule and create a conflict with travelers who have returned home regularly during the two years of service.

For travelers facing this dilemma, the best approach is to provide the agency a list of days spent at home and hope that this will be acceptable.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

October 17, 2013

20252 Views

Talking Taxes: The Tax Home “Abandonment” Issue

Posted on October 17, 2013November 10, 2023 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

Guest Article via Joseph Smith @ TravelTax.com

Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

What is Tax Home “Abandonment”?

How does tax home abandonment affect the Travel Nurse? What can you do to protect yourself? Joseph Smith from TravelTax.com helps make some sense of this confusing issue.

Many travelers have asked us about recently updated agency policies that require a traveler to return home and either work locally or stay at home for 30 to 45 days every two years. The conversation goes along these lines: “You have been traveling for two years. You need to go home for 45 days and work or you will lose your tax home”. There are variations of this conversation, but the policies require the traveler to go home after 2 years of service.

First, this is an Agency rule. Not something from the tax code.

Unfortunately, it is made out to be an IRS rule which is misleading. So why are many agencies adopting this rule? The returns home are an attempt to avoid the “abandonment rule” that is a part of the regulations regarding a tax home.. A tax home is an economic home (not a permanent residence – those are two different concepts). In other words, it is where one works, not where they live. If a person has 1 permanent job, the area of that job is their tax residence whether they drive 1 mile or 100 miles commuting. Due to the temporary nature of their contracts, a traveler does not have a primary job site unless they stay in the same area over a year, or have repetitive assignments in the same area over 2 or more years.

When one does not have a primary area where they earn their income, the tax home can default to the permanent residence provided they pass two of three of the following tests.

Have significant income at home
Have substantial expenses maintaining their residence which are duplicated while on assignment
Have not abandoned their historical area of work and residence

The agency rules requiring a return home are addressing abandonment in criteria #3. A few examples can help explain how this is applied:

Situation 1: Traveler X does not return home for 3 years.
Situation 2: Traveler X returns home 15 days a year for a vacation
Situation 3: Traveler X comes home 30+ days a year

Traveler 1 has a problem.

A three-year absence without returning home is an abandonment of their home. Going away three years without a return home generally means they will continue the process. Since tax return audit cycles are 3 years (A 4-year-old return cannot be audited except in special circumstances), a 3-year audit will reveal continuous life on the road. They then become “iterant” as a lifestyle choice in the eyes of the IRS.

Traveler 2 has a potential problem.

Under other areas of the tax code, a principal residence is defined as a place that the taxpayer occupies more than 10% of the rented days. Though a traveler maintaining a tax residence does not rent their home in its entirety, the spirit of the rule still applies. 10% of 365 days is 36-37 days. Returns home of minimal duration does not evidence one’s commitment to a residence more than a lack of commitment or abandonment.

Traveler 3 has a substantial time investment at home and more closely follows the 10% rule

It is our experience that Traveler 3 has a lower risk of an adverse audit (not the risk of being audited, but surviving an audit), than the other 2 and we encouraged our healthcare staffing clients to make a point of spending 30 days a year at home if possible. Mobile professionals working in other industries such as the nuclear and engineering allow for different approaches.

While we like to see our clients return home for 30 days a year, this often conflicts with an agency mandate of returning home 45 days every 2 years. As many travelers know, agency rules that establish corporate due diligence before government agencies do not satisfy the traveler’s obligations. Travelers often have a higher burden of proof when under audit. Their obligations exceed that of the agency.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

Top 10 Tax Questions of Travel Nurses:

What is a tax home?

Can I rent from my parents and make that my tax home?

Where do I find fair market rental rates in my area?

What state do I file in?

How do state taxes work?

What are Per Diems?

What kind of records should I keep?

How long should I keep my records?

Can I get audited for low taxable wages?

What are the two most significant changes under tax reform?

Are you new to Travel Nursing?

Start with our Travel Nursing Guide.

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(Disclaimer: Please note that this is the Authors opinion only. I do not provide career counseling, legal or medical consults. If you require any of these, please search out the appropriate resources)

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Figuring out what a ‘Tax Advantage’ program is can be confusing.

Many travel nursing agencies will offer tax-free portions of your pay and most will refer to this as some sort of “Tax Advantage Program”.

Gypsy Nurse: “Ok, that makes it a little easier to understand. Now, Why do I care about tax advantage, and does it even benefit me?”

To Summarize: Daina Smith

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Would you like to learn more?

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

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