Experienced RN looking for answers

Medic15251 · May 24, 2007

The math all seems to be correct, however this seems to be a low offer for a travel assignment. They are probably trying to take advantage of you since this is your first travel assignment. In regards to the tax free money, the irs allows deductions for travel related to your job if you itemize. Travel companies know this and some offer a tax advantage program offering a housing stipend or meal stipend that is paid daily and not taxed. I would suggest calling a good cpa and having a meeting with them before you go and travel.

I think you will also find that different recruiters try and break down their pay packages differently which makes it hard to compare offers. The easiest way I have found to compare packages is to break all the benefits into one hourly rate.

Again, I think your offer is a quite bit low. I would encourage you to shop around for a company and assignment. You may have to take a lower offer on your first assignment to establish rapport with a company and learn the ropes, but always remember that these travel companies are making money off of you and your hard work. You should be compensated with that in mind.

kellis99RN · May 29, 2007

I agree with Medic, the offer still seems low for travel.

Good luck.

sandals · May 31, 2007

i was totally confused by the whole math equation. how does the irs believe that your taxable wage is only 14 per hour? i thought it depended on whether or not you had a permanent address? is the travel company issuing you a 1099 at the end of the year? if yes, you will need to pay taxes on that money. the company saves money on you when they give you a 1099. why dont they just offer you an hourly salary? why does it have to be so convoluted?

sandals

FLOBRN · Jun 4, 2007

you can get a lot of answers to this question by going to delphiforum.com then the travel nurse and therapists - no recruiting section. If you have tax questions..which you will if this is your first assignment i would recommend you check out traveltax.com those two sites should help with all your questions and both are excellent at answering new travelers questions. Hope you have fun.

waterfall99 · Jun 4, 2007

The math all seems to be correct, however this seems to be a low offer for a travel assignment. They are probably trying to take advantage of you since this is your first travel assignment. In regards to the tax free money, the irs allows deductions for travel related to your job if you itemize. Travel companies know this and some offer a tax advantage program offering a housing stipend or meal stipend that is paid daily and not taxed. I would suggest calling a good cpa and having a meeting with them before you go and travel.
I think you will also find that different recruiters try and break down their pay packages differently which makes it hard to compare offers. The easiest way I have found to compare packages is to break all the benefits into one hourly rate.
Again, I think your offer is a quite bit low. I would encourage you to shop around for a company and assignment. You may have to take a lower offer on your first assignment to establish rapport with a company and learn the ropes, but always remember that these travel companies are making money off of you and your hard work. You should be compensated with that in mind.

See, I disagree, I think this is a pretty good offer, considering where it is.

Also, payrates in travel nursing have had a sharp decline. There aren't assignments out there much over 40, and average for the south is less than 30.

waterfall99 · Jun 4, 2007

I agree with Medic, the offer still seems low for travel.
Good luck.

you think 41.20 is low for SC?

what kind of rate do you think is good?

Hmm

I might be wrong. I just read it again.

She's getting 41.20 TOTAL.

The kind of rate I would expect for SC might be like 28/hour +housing.

I don't usually take a housing stipend, so my hourly is less, but then I don't have to pay for ANY of the housing.

On average, the housing equates to about 8-9/hour. So that would be about 36/hour.

So then again, 41.20 total doesn't sound too bad, especially getting the majority of it, tax free.

I don't know, I think it's a pretty good deal for SC

I agree about asking on delphiforums, they are tax advisors and very experienced travelers that might have a different opinion.

LadyNASDAQ · Jun 5, 2007

I would be very cautious about tax advantage. First, if you had an accident and had to be on disability you would be receiving payments based on that low rate of pay. Second, you're not paying in enough to social security which you'll feel later on and probably spend the difference. Third, you're a red flag in the face of the IRS. You have to show proof of taking the max for all of your monies given to you supposedly tax free. My CPA told me do not take any tax advantage jobs because if you do, I will NOT represent you. You cannot possibly have enough "write offs" to earn that.

This is why I work a lot of local agency. I aim for around $38-$40/hr. Ican easily get that working better travel jobs or doing the local agency thing contracted or not. I just came off of a 26 week contract and now I'm enjoying planning my own schedule.

rdeemed70 · Jun 5, 2007

This is great information. I have decided to do local travel and it seems that the agencies either don't know the truth about the tax advantage and local travel or choose not to tell you the truth. I have had different recruiters tell me so many different things. I just had an interview yesterday for a great job that is 53 miles from my house. I am not going to take the Tax advantage whether it is offered or not. The more I have read the more I realize that it can be a problem in the future.

Basically what I understand is that you have to first have a Tax home and then travel to an area a certain distance from your tax home. You must have to establish a second residence in which it would be a hardship to take care of 2 residences. That is where the gov't gives the tax break for traveling. Am I understanding this correctly? Thus, if I am traveling 50 miles and am able to drive home, I am not legally eligable for the tax free housing and meal per diem.

I'm just making sure I understand...

Thanks!

Moya

pkapple · Jun 5, 2007

Traveled for years before TaxAdvantage was being given. In order to claim the perdiem expense --you must not be reimbursed(lol) and need to accrue actual expenses or utilize the accepted perdiem rates(see IRs webpage fro links) SOOOO the 99 bucks a day is acceptable rate for the area and is allowable--but you can not claim any deduction since thay are giving it to you. Kinda like having your insurance and 401k taken in pre-tax dollars instead of figuring it all out with the annual 1040 junk.

You must be at least 50 miles from home to qualify--local agency/travel does not qualify, so all earnings are legally taxable. Now the get around it sometimes works if you stay with a friend or relative for free and get the housing allowance, but is actually the most legal if you use the money for housing. The meal portion is an allowance that is easier to take pretax cause otherwise you have to keep every receipt for every meal and then only 50% will be used at tax time on your itemized deductions or business expenses.

Think of all the allowance as your expense account, do not add it in to your hourly wage!! if you are getting 14.00 its 14.00! you still have a car payment etc. and should be maintaining a home elsewhere.

All that being said, I loved traveling and did make good money, now tho it seems the pay is nearly the same as staff wages-sure you get the apartment so its cheaper cost of living, but used to be a traveler got the housing and still made 10 bucks more than staff!!!! Why do you think they resented travel nurses(wink) Been on both sides!

rdeemed70 · Jun 5, 2007

Well, how does this sound. I'm being offered a cath lab nurse position where I will be 53 miles from the hospital. In order to do call, I need to be closer to the hospital, so they are paying for lodging close to the hospital for call. So, they are saying that because of this, I am eligible for the tax free per-diem and that if I should be audited, they would vouch for me. Does this sound right? I'm a little leary of this one...

rdeemed70 · Jun 5, 2007

Oh.. they are giving me the option to do straight pay, which is more than I am making as a staff nurse. I'm just trying to decide what to do...Don't want to send any flags to the IRS...