Taking assignment near tax home?

[katierobin23]

I was browsing through articles about travel nursing and one mentioned that to legitimize a tax home, the nurse could take one assignment a year there....but if that's your tax home and permanent residence, would you be able to work as a traveler? Isn't there a distance requirement if some sort?

Might be a dumb question, I'm fairly new to researching the details of traveling :) tried a search but didn't turn up much, thanks in advance!

[NedRN]

There is lots of content about tax homes on PanTravelers and Traveltax if you want to learn more and I've put down the basics several times here. You can work anywhere you want as a traveler although sometimes hospitals don't allow locals to do contracts to avoid distortions of their local labor pool. The issue you are thinking about is the ability to take tax free housing, travel, and stipends. If you are commuting from home, all your compensation should be taxed, just like any other local employee. Right?

If the circumstances of your job require an overnight stay away from home, now you are eligible to deduct those duplicated expenses as business expenses you would not have incurred if you had stayed at home, or an agency can now "reimburse" you for those business related expenses without incurring taxes.

If you work or plan to work over one year in the same general area, that now becomes your new tax home. Because you are at home, you are not eligible going forward for special tax treatment.

[katierobin23]

You can work anywhere you want as a traveler although sometimes hospitals don't allow locals to do contracts to avoid distortions of their local labor pool.

I'm clear on the tax benefits, I was wondering about this. I didn't know if there was a "rule" saying you aren't eligible to take travel position if you live in the area. Thank you.