New travel RN - Tax home / housing question!

[RNinMaine92]

Hi all! Hoping for some clarification.

I am in the process of securing my 1st travel assignment. It is 100 miles from my tax home. My tax home is an apartment I rent with my boyfriend, and it's in the city where I've lived for 4 years - with my current perm staff job, car registration, bank, etc. If I sign this contract, my plan is to sign a lease with my boyfriend's parents for the duration of my assignment; they live far from us but near the new hospital.

So, I understand that I qualify for the tax free stipend because 1) I pay fair market rent and my name is on a lease for my current apt, 2) I will return to my current apt and spend time there when not working, 3) I will have record of duplicating expenses 7 days a week by signing an official lease with my bf's parents and paying them rent, 4) it's too far to go back and forth from my tax home to travel hospital in between 12 hr shifts.

My question is: I pay fair market rent for the apt I am leasing, but is there an amount I need to pay my boyfriend's parents? Such as, could I pay them $100 or $200 to rent a room in their house (much more rural) on the days I'm there? All I've seen on TravelTax/websites is that you need to 1) prove that you pay for expenses 7 days/week for duration of contract, and 2) have a viable tax home with the above listed qualifications. I'm hoping to pocket as much as possible and still play a fair game.

Thanks!!!

[barb o]

If you take the housing stipend in lieu of having the agency find a place for you, what you pay for your living arrangement is your business. For all anyone cares, you could live in a mobile home. Some travelers do. That is how many travel nurses make real money. You don't have to sign a lease at your chosen digs.