Tax Advantage Plan????

[Kathy643]

Hey all!

I talked with some travel recruiters today, and they were telling me their rates and stipends and such and i'm pretty overwhelmed and majorly confused!

What is the deal with this tax advantage plan? One recruiter told me they give an hourly rate of $18/hr because that's a reasonable new nurse salary... you only get taxed on 18.. get to keep the stipends tax free.. any hourly wage lower than that raises some flags..

Then I talk to another recruiter who told me they give an hourly rate of $8.. when I brought up what the other recruiter said, I was told that I wont make any money that way...

I dont want to get audited.. But I also want to be able to live off of what I'm making..

thoughts???

Also, how does the stipends work? Do i want to get a higher hourly wage?? Can I trust their "take home" estimates? Does "take home" estimates include housing? I plan on taking their "free" housing... but something tells me nothing is free...

Like I said... majorly confused.. and overwhelmed! please help! :)

[sweetgurly25]

$8 an hour is going to get you audited. the only way you going to get a tax free stipend is if you have a tax home and you qualify. some nurses dont mind the low pay and stipend because of that, i was told 20$ an hour is great so that you dont get audited. you are right nothing is free. the housing is taking out of your pay. the higher hourly rate is good if you want overtime hours. take home estimates may or may not include housing depending on what you told them. they can calculate your take home for both scenarios. if you decide to take their housing your take home will be lower than if you take the stipend and find your own home. i hope this helps.

[NedRN]

Can you tell me exactly how that will get you audited? The opposite is actually true - the less you make, the lower the audit risk.

Overtime rates can and should be negotiated separately. No law restricts them to time and a half, that is only the minimum allowed by law.