Assignment near home, travel pay vs straight pay tax question

[jayneelea]

I am thinking of accepting an assignment in NH that it slightly over an hour from my tax home which also is in NH. It's a rotating shift, I don't mind driving back and forth from the assignment on days but I don't think I would feel safe driving over an hour on nights because of how tired I get. I was offered straight pay, or travel pay so I could collect the housing stipend, but I don't want to get in trouble with taxes. I plan on getting a hotel when I have to work the night shift and drive back home when I do day shift. Is that safe to accept the travel pay, or should I just accept the straight pay? Im wondering if there is a certain amount of days I have to sleep away from my tax home at a hotel in order to justify taking the travel pay..

[NedRN]

If the cost of getting an apartment is close to that of a hotel, do it. You will be much more comfortable and will not feel forced to return home on your days off, especially if (or when) the facility does not schedule you in stacked shifts.

There is a tax issue with not renting housing for the entire assignment and not declaring some of the housing stipend as taxable. The details are fuzzy to me, but is likely explicitly answered on TravelTax site extensive knowledge base if you look for it.