Travel Nursing, Housing and Tax by Penny Roberts

Travel Nursing, Housing and Tax by Penny Roberts


If you're a traveling nurse, the issue of housing would be something you'd have to handle. Here we look at housing and the tax home status.

Permanent housing applies to the traveling nurses who are in the position of maintaining their own house or apartment, which is known as the primary residence, before they begin their traveling nurse assignment in another state. One of your major concerns if you do own a house is your tax situation or status. Depending on which state your property is based and your personal unique housing situation, it's always advisable to speak to a tax expert who will help you.

First, you have to find out if your property is a tax home while you are away travel nursing and if it is, you may be applicable for tax-free housing. According to the IRS, a tax home is seen as your 'historical area of residence'; a place where you spend most of your time. A tax home is not some storage units or mobile unit / RV that can come with you and even if all your mail such as bank letters etc are posted there, that doesn't qualify the property as a tax home.

If you are a traveling nurse hoping to work in another state other than the state your primary residence is located and your property is of tax home status then with a tax home, you could save yourself up to $9000 or more a year. Other tax-free benefits you get as part of this tax home status are travel expenses, and utilities expenses such as telephone and laundry. These are the tax savings you get by maintaining a tax home. Be also aware that there is a time limit to how long you stay in a certain area before it affects your tax home status because the tax home shifts after a certain time.

As traveling nurses, there may be confusion on how far you have to travel before you are to be considered to be working away from home. There is actually no mileage number that can measure this. The IRS rule is normally the 'sleep and rest test', this means that on a practical level, you are working away from home when your primary residence is far away enough from your hospital that when you finish working, it would be impractical and unreasonable to drive home, rest, sleep and drive back for 12 hour shifts or more. Travel nurse agencies state a 50 / 55 miles minimum, however, this just makes it easier for them to calculate who is applicable rather than having to work out individual travel nurse journeys.

The reasoning behind having a tax home status is that if there is a duplication of living expenses whilst you are away travel nursing in another state or in another location. And if it is impractical for you to be using your primary residence whilst working as a travel nurse, then you should be entitled to tax-free housing and to certain expenses that are duplicated because of the traveling. The tax system works this way to try to be fair on the travel nurse by lessening the monetary burden of duplicated living expenses. The tax-free benefits you're entitled to can be organised through the travel nurse agency you've signed up with or you can claim a tax deduction individually through the tax system when calculating your tax. One of the advantages of getting the tax benefits via your traveling nurse agency is that most of the thinking, calculating and paperwork should be done for you whereas claiming your own tax can be laborious task and it generally takes a longer time.

Any specific questions you may have, it is advisable to consult a qualified travel nurse tax expert or an advisor at the IRS.


About the Author
Penny Roberts writes for www.lifeofthetravelnurse.com. Travel nursing is one of many topics she writes about. Visit www.lifeofthetravelnurse.com to see other articles on the various aspects of the life of a travel nurse.