Moving while traveling

[perfexion, ASN, RN]

Right now I live in New Jersey and I'm on assignment in upstate New York. I plan to take my next assignment in Texas but I'm house hunting in California (my ultimate goal is to move to California and take local assignments until I find someplace that I like). Has anyone else ever moved while traveling? What's the easiest way to go about it? Should I bring all of my belongings to Texas or should I keep my home in Jersey until I get to California? If I take everything to Texas then technically I wouldn't have a tax home for 3 months. Does that affect anything tax wise?

[NedRN]

All your compensation is taxed with no tax home, housing, per diem and travel.

[gymrat13]

Moving is the hardest part of all of the travel nursing. My suggestion would be to keep your tax home established while on assignment (google tax home if unsure what that means). If you dont have one established, they will tax all of your per diem's because you will be considered a "transient worker." Tax free per diem's are what make travel worth it, so you need to keep those established. However, if you genuinely plan on only not having a tax home for three months, you will be fine, because you can claim your current and for a period of three months, it shouldnt be an issue because your current has been the majority of the year. It becomes pretty confusing when trying to establish these things, so another good resource is a travel nursing tax specialist. If you google it, there is a really good one in the northeast...Cant remember their name specifically, but easy to find because they do taxes for travelers all around the country and they will answer all of your travel related tax questions. They have been a life saver for me!

[NedRN]

TravelTax may be the name you are trying to remember.

Tax homes do not linger but shift immediately. They have no connection to the calendar year. If you give up your residence, either your tax home shifts to your new place of work, or you become itinerant. In either case, you are no longer working away from home and so there are no "replacement" costs. You will owe taxes on all compensation received including housing, per diems (M&IE), and travel.