rdeemed70

Oh, and the tax free per diem is not dependent on the distance you are from the job. It depends on whether it will be a hardship for you to work a shift, drive home and drive back to work in the morning. Thus, 50 miles might not qualify. Some people try to get over, hoping to not be audited by the IRS. I'm not taking the chance. Also, you must have a tax home, that is you have a residence where you are paying rent/mortgage, and you have to take up residence elsewhere where you are working. I don't have a tax home because I don't have another residence where my job is... Be careful... don't let people or $$$ lead you astray and get you in trouble... Local travel is pretty cool. I'm loving it right now and it fits my life. Good luck! Check out Highway hypodermics website as noted above. Lots of good stuff there... Moya

I am a local travel nurse who works in a hospital 50 miles from home. I get the housing stipend, but I have it taxed because I do not have a separate tax home. I work in the cath lab, and have to take call, so I use the stipend for a hotel close by for safety sake. I have a friend who is working at the same hospital who lives 20 miles away. It really depends on the hospital. The main thing is that you must understand the IRS rules for travelers in tax free per diems. If you look on this forum, there are resources to help you under stand this. HTH! Moya

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...

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...

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