As I research travel nursing and read this forum and all the information on compensation, I can't help but be afraid of accepting a contract just because the overall numbers look good, especially since I have always had simple tax filings with no fear of audit.
The job I was currently looking at appears to be one of the "too good to be true" positions, so I wanted to put the figures out there and post the comments the recruiter made to me to see what the experienced travel nurses have to say.
[TABLE=width: 100%]
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[TD=class: payHdr, colspan: 2]Contract Shift Pay Detail[/TD]
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[TD=class: cellLabel]"Gross" Shift Pay:[/TD]
[TD=class: cellText]$292.80[/TD]
[TD=class: cellLabel][/TD]
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[TR]
[TD=class: cellLabel]"Net" Shift Pay:[/TD]
[TD=class: cellText]$284.40[/TD]
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[TD=class: cellLabel](Per Diem):[/TD]
[TD=class: cellText]$228.16[/TD]
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[TD=class: cellLabel](Taxable Wages):[/TD]
[TD=class: cellText]$64.64[/TD]
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Additional Benefit: You will receive a healthcare stipend of $358.80 for this
contract paid out at $0.69 per hour.
*My compensation package is based on the fact that I have selected the option to 'relocate' during this assignment. (I am not relocating, I would be driving ~95 miles round trip daily)
Those figures are for 13 weeks, 8 hours a day, 5 shifts a week and as I told the recruiter, it looks like I am only making $8 an hour officially because the majority of the money being paid to me would be per diem and not taxable wages - one of the "too good to be true" offers.
I was under the impression that the per diem couldn't go above the federal rate, which for this county is $77 lodging, $46 incidentals - but maybe I don't understand the rules. I do tend to over-worry about everything, but I keep reading if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is... so I am hoping I can get some info, tho I am reading through the help posts here again to try to decipher it.)
Here are some quotes from her:
"They tell us how much per diem we can pay in a week and divide it by the number of shifts"
"For 5 days of work you will get two deposits one for the wage amount 64.64 x 5 $323,20 - $228.16 x 5 1140.80" (So here she is saying I only get $8.08/hour and the rest is per diem. I don't like hearing that...)
"Lawyers worked it on based on what we can do via the IRS and we have been paying this way for over 17 years."
"We have never had a nurse audited we have nurses that have been working for us for over 10 years they file their income tax "
-- I actually went and filed an application directly with the facility because I feel that this agency really is trying to sneak around the IRS and pay less taxes and I don't want to be the one that ends up with the tax liability and audit.
