June 23, 2019

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Ask A Travel Nurse: Can I Rent Out My Tax Home?

Posted on June 23, 2019November 10, 2023 by The Gypsy Nurse

Can I rent out my travel nurse tax home and still receive a housing stipend?

The short answer is YES. However, there are additional considerations you should be aware of if you are attempting to use the tax home as a qualifier for ‘duplicated expenses’ for tax-free stipends. If you are receiving tax-free housing stipends, you need to have a residence available for personal use in the area of your tax home. Once you have rented out your house, it is no longer your residence but a business property.

ADDITIONAL TRAVEL NURSE TAX INFORMATION

As a Travel Nurse, Can I rent out my tax home and still receive housing stipend?

Answer:

Travel nurse tax home: Understanding the tax home can be very daunting. There are several articles on this topic, and it’s always recommended if you have questions, contact the expert: TravelTax

According to TravelTax:

Generally, you need to have a residence available for personal use in the area of your tax home. Once you have rented out your house, it is no longer your residence but a business property. However, here are a few options if you get the urge to become a landlord.

You rent it out and lease other accommodations somewhere in the same metropolitan area for yourself. This essentially turns your ex-residence into a business venture, regardless of profit or loss.
You rent it out but retain a portion for personal use, NOT just storage. (This could be done in the case of an in-law apt or renting to friends/family who you know well enough to stay at the house in between assignments.)
You rent it out as a vacation rental. This is great for those who live in tourist areas. You are allowed to rent it out completely for part of the year while you go off on assignment. Because the lease is for less than a year, and you are occupying it the rest of the time, it qualifies, and you can still keep your reimbursements tax-free.

See more at: TravelTax.com and check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes

Finished the travel nursing guide and are ready to look for an assignment?

Check out our travel nurse jobs!

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

February 16, 2019

106654 Views

10 Most Asked Tax Questions of Travel Nurses

Posted on February 16, 2019June 27, 2023 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

This article is the third in a series of articles we’re calling “Truth in Travel Nursing.” Designed to provide reliable information to travel nurses, we hope these articles help clear up what we feel are some common misconceptions in the travel nursing profession today.

As Tax Season is upon us, we’ve prepared for you, answers to the TOP 10 Tax Questions of Travel Nurses.

The goal of a good tax preparer isn’t simply to prepare a historical document – which is the real substance of a tax return. It is their job to help the client plan for the future and find ways to reduce their tax burden going forward. With that in mind, a few of the most frequently asked questions we, as tax preparation professionals, now receive actually have dual answers!

Are you new to Travel Nursing?

Start with our Travel Nursing Guide.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

January 26, 2019

108432 Views

What Is A Tax Home As A Travel Nurse

Posted on January 26, 2019May 14, 2024 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

After a day of managing potent medications on a critical patient, one would think that unraveling the concept of tax home would be an easy task. Unfortunately, the concept of a tax residence is very similar to an ACLS algorithm which few of us actually master unless we routinely manage codes or are lucky enough to have extra room in our scrub pockets to carry around an ACLS flow chart. So what really is a tax home?

The Complexities of Tax Homes

The complexity of a tax home determination is mind-boggling. However, it is the litmus test of the taxability of tax-free reimbursement payments.

The confusion is exacerbated by agencies, recruiters, and executives who only know part of the rules. Like a patient that knows enough about a diagnosis to be dangerous, players in the healthcare staffing industry are just as suspicious. Unfortunately, the same applies to many tax professionals who stumble over the rules with equal blindness.

The following discussion will just address the foundation of a tax home. There is no one thing that settles the issue. Just like the ACLS algorithm. The determination of tax home goes through many decision points governed by unique facts and circumstances.

Starting point: A tax home and a permanent residence are NOT the same things!

What? What do you mean? All the agencies want to know where my permanent residence is.

This is where most of the confusion over a tax home starts. These terms are, unfortunately, used synonymously by many in our industry.

Permanent Residence = Legal Home / Tax Residence = Economic Home

A permanent residence is a legal concept. Ties that bind you to an area all contribute to the location of your permanent legal home. These include driver’s licenses, car registration, memberships, where you get your mail, the home state of your professional practice license, etc. This does not rise to the level of a tax residence and initially has NO impact on it.

A tax residence is defined by the IRS as one’s principal place of business, which is a loaded term that basically means the area where one makes the majority of their income. It is not where you live.

This is why it is better called an economic home. Most people work where they live. Hence, their permanent and tax residences are in the same place, which explains the synonymous use of the terms. However, many people do not work where they live. Some have more than one permanent job, seasonal jobs, or commute a significant distance to a main job. The definition of a tax residence for these individuals is no different. The tax residence is still the location where the individual makes the majority of their income in relation to the other places of work.

Travel nurses occupy a different sphere. Because their work is mostly temporary, they do not have a primary place of business or income. Since they are in constant motion, never stay in one place for more than a year. The tax code has recognized that it would be unreasonable to expect these individuals to actually move their residence to a different location with each assignment. Travelers with tax homes are never moving. They are mobilizing. The difference is those terms are important as moving involves a change of residence while mobilizing is more of an accurate description of someone who is temporarily away from home.

How do the tax rules address the travel nurse?

For true “travelers,” as defined above, the tax rules allow an exception to the tax home definition. Instead of looking at the primary place of income/business, it allows the tax home to default (fall back on) the permanent residence. For this to apply, however, the travel nurse must meet 2 out of 3 of the following criteria.

Does the individual have significant income at home?
Does the individual have substantial expenses maintaining their primary residence that is duplicated when on assignment?
Has the individual abandoned their historical place of lodging and work?

Most travelers do not work at home (Criteria 1). This means that the balance of travelers must satisfy the second and third criteria to have an acceptable tax residence. (Criteria 2) They have an apartment or house that they own, duplicating these expenses when away from home on assignment. Further, their home is in the same area that it was when they started their traveling career, or they established an income base in the area before traveling (Criteria 3). Some travelers keep regular jobs at home (Criteria 1) and return home on a regular basis between contracts. If the income earned from this job is significant, the requirement of a financial obligation for a residence is not as critical since they are still satisfying Criteria 1 and 3.

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes

Are you searching for a GREAT Paying Travel Nurse Position?

Check out these HOT Travel Nurse JOBS

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

May 15, 2018

51885 Views

I Use an RV for Travel Nursing– Can I Deduct The Expenses?

Posted on May 15, 2018April 29, 2024 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

Using an RV or 5th Wheel as your assignment lodging is a great way to work as a traveler. It removes the dreaded task of loading/unloading your vehicle with each assignment and having to find another apartment. Even though an RV, 5th Wheel, and Travel Trailer are similar terms, we will use the word “RV” to avoid repetition.
RVs are not cheap, and some cost more than a regular home. It’s quite an investment. Paying apartment rent at assignments is equally as expensive, and once spent, the money is gone. Unlike an RV, the place is still yours.

So…. Can you deduct your RV expenses?

If you rented an apartment at the assignment, you would deduct the expenses less any per diem you received. Since an RV is bought as a substitute for an apartment or rented home, you would think that RV expenses would also be deductible when used in the same manner.

First, let’s clear one hurdle.

To deduct ANY travel-related expense for assignments, a traveler must maintain a qualifying tax residence. Not just a permanent legal residence which is something different. A tax home is your Principal Place of income, OR when a person does not have a main place of work, their tax home can be at their principal residence if they have substantial expenses to maintain their dwelling that is duplicated when at an assignment.

Second, an RV must be a SECOND residence.

If you travel in an RV and do not maintain a job or have the main dwelling that you incur a financial burden for, we have failed the tests. Some RVers will leave behind an empty pad or vacant land and do not have a second residence for lodging. A pad or vacant land is not a dwelling.

Now that the basic stuff is covered, let’s get to our question about deducting the RV expenses.

RVs are considered a “residence” in the Tax Code

1) RVs are considered a “residence” in the Tax Code and, more specifically, a “dwelling unit.” Basically, anything that one can live in with adequate provisions for a living can rise to this level. RVs, boats, apartments, and homes are all included
in this category. Just as mortgage interest and real estate taxes are allowed as a deduction for the main residence, interest is paid on an RV and boat loan. Property taxes substitute for real estate taxes in RVs, so those payments to local governments are deductible as well.
But what about the rest of the expenses?

RVs fall under a peculiar part of the tax code

2) Since an RV is a “dwelling unit” and considered a residence, it falls under a peculiar part of the tax code (§280A ) that places specific restrictions on deductible expenses for dwelling units. Whenever one uses a dwelling for more than 14 days for personal lodging or >10% of days in which the dwelling unit is rented to other parties, deductions for the dwelling are limited to income derived from the RV or within the RV (like an office in the home) or not allowed at all.

Unfortunately, the rule in #2 answers the question that many travelers ask. It would be one thing to rent someone else’s RV on the road, but owning the RV as a residence triggers limitations that keep personal living expenses from becoming business expenses. Once you watch TV in the RV or do any personal act, you are using the RV for personal purposes as a dwelling and cannot deduct any further expenses. This is true even though you are using the RV as a second residence to deduct rent for an apartment at the assignment location normally. The ownership changes the deal.

Summary:

As a traveler using your RV as a work residence, you can deduct interest and taxes on the RV. You cannot deduct the costs of the RV nor depreciate the RV since it is used as a residence for> 14 days. As to the housing per diem, it applies to other expenses such as paying rent. Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

References:
Jackson v Commissioner TC Memo 2014-160,
Dunford v Commissioner TC Memo 2013-189

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

May 19, 2016

15334 Views

The MultiState Tax Dilemma for Travelers

Posted on May 19, 2016February 24, 2022 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

There have been a lot of discussions lately on our Network regarding the Home State Tax vs the Work State Tax. Joseph Smith from TravelTax.com helps explain the Multi-state Tax.

Provided by: Joseph Smith at TravelTax.com

Paying Multi-state Taxes

Multi-state tax filings present one of the hardest parts of a travelers return and many travelers who start out on their first assignment are caught by surprise when they find they have to pay a large amount to their home state.

If you are from a state without an income tax, then you can skip this installment. This is for those that live in a state in which their home state tax is greater than the work state. First, let’s review what happens when you work in more than one state. Your home state will tax ALL of your income earned, regardless of where it was earned and how much time you spent in your home state. You will also be taxed in the work state. Thankfully, you are never doubled taxed as the home state will give you credit for taxes paid to the work state.

If your home state has a higher tax rate, you have a gap to fill.

There are at least 4 ways to fill this gap

1) Ask your agency to withholding for your work state AND additional amounts for your home state. Some agencies will outright refuse to do this as it requires additional work to add a second state. If they can, this is the fastest way to do it.

2) Make estimated payments. You can pay in during the year to bridge the gap. You would want to do this on a quarterly basis for each assignment that presents this dilemma. Find out the difference between your work state tax and the home state by either asking your tax professional or consulting the state tax guides.

3) If you have a job in your home state during the same year you have an assignment in a lower tax state, have the payroll manager increase your withholding for your home state. The excess will help soak up the deficit from the out of state assignment.

4) Just ignore it and pay at tax time. This last step is the easiest but also triggers additional charges. Additional charges?? When you do not pay enough DURING the year and run a deficit of more than 10% of your total tax, many state tax authorities will charge interest and/or penalties of the amount that should have been paid in to meet the 90% threshold. Some states charge as much as 10% of the amount due on a tax return with amounts due of greater than 10% of the total tax. What is “total tax”? When you complete your tax return, you are determining the tax on the income you earned. Once that tax is calculated, you then compare it to the amount you had withheld, paid in with estimates and/or credited from other state returns. The result is a refund or an amount due.

There are some exceptions to this system. Border states may have a reciprocity agreement and there is an odd agreement between IN, VA, CA, AZ and OR which we will cover later.

Joseph Smith presents a multitude of Tax related seminars both via Teleconference and at the Annual Travelers Conference. Consider attending one or check out the other Tax Related Articles for even more Travel Tax related information and advice.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

November 21, 2013

11006 Views

Talking Taxes: The “Abandonment” Issue Regarding Tax Homes, Part 2

Posted on November 21, 2013May 7, 2021 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

The Traveler Tax Home “Abandonment” Issue

Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

In last month’s installment, we explored a relatively new rule some agencies impose after a traveler has worked 2 years of assignments, requiring them to return home for 45 days. In some cases, the traveler must work at home during the 45 day period before returning to travel. As we mentioned, there are variations of the rule, but in all of them, a substantial visit to the home is required after two years of service.

Where did this come from?

For some, this may be a boring trip through the history of tax legislation, but for those of us who like to know “why” as well as “what,” understanding the rationale of regulation is very insightful.

Before 1992, back when I traveled (I’m dating myself obviously), there was no “one year rule” that limited an assignment in one geographical area before the per diems / reimbursements became taxable. Before 1992, one could not be away from home longer than a year regardless of location. A “rebuttable presumption” that any work away from home longer than a year was either permanent or caused the taxpayer to be treated as an itinerant (no tax home). The one-year presumption could be overcome (rebut the presumption) if the taxpayer could provide evidence that they would return home permanently before the end of 2 years. Any series of assignments away from home for more than 2 years, regardless of location, would cause the taxpayer to be treated as having a permanent/indefinite job or classified as an itinerant. Under these old rules, a traveler could actually stay in the same area 2 years before per diems / reimbursements were taxed

All of this changed with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

The 1-2 year rule defining work away from home was changed to the current rule defining temporary, work away from home to work which did not last more than one year in one geographical area once the taxpayer works in the same geographical region for more than a year their tax home shifts to the current place of work. The change of focus from away from home regardless of location to away from home in one area recognized the increasing mobilization of America’s workforce.

Fast forward to 2013 – if you recall..

… the definition of a traveler tax home is one of an economical home (not a permanent residence- those are two different concepts). In other words, it is where one works, not where they live. If a person has 1 permanent job, the area of that job is their tax residence whether they drive 1 mile or 100 miles to get there. A traveler does not have a primary job site unless they stay in the same area for over a year or have repetitive assignments in the same area. When one does not have a primary area where they earn their income, the tax home can default to the traveler’s permanent residence provided two of three of the following tests are satisfied.

The Traveler

1) Has significant income at home

2) Has substantial expenses maintaining a residence which are duplicated while on assignment

3) Has not abandoned their historical area of work and residence

This brings us back to the 45-day rule that some agencies are implementing. There is a belief among many tax practitioners that the IRS views the “abandonment rule” within the structure of the old tax home rules. Specifically, if a taxpayer is away from home for more than two years, they have abandoned their residence and fail criteria #3 as noted above. This is separate from the current one year rule limiting temporary assignments to 12 months in one geographical area.

When an agency uses this 45-day rule, it is attempting to graft due diligence to ensure that the traveler has not abandoned their tax residence. This is important as an agency must exercise reasonable due diligence to screen and monitor its employees’ tax home status. Otherwise, the IRS would assess severe penalties on an agency for paying tax-free reimbursements for lodging, travel, and meals without a justifiable basis.

While this is an understandable effort at compliance, it leaves travelers who return home frequently in a bit of a quandary. Our firm believes that regular returns home during the year totaling 30 days in a 12 month calendar period is better than a 45-day return after a two-year absence. Unfortunately, some agencies take an inflexible approach to this rule and create a conflict with travelers who have returned home regularly during the two years of service.

For travelers facing this dilemma, the best approach is to provide the agency a list of days spent at home and hope that this will be acceptable.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

By Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

October 17, 2013

18793 Views

Talking Taxes: The Tax Home “Abandonment” Issue

Posted on October 17, 2013November 10, 2023 by Joseph Smith @ Travel Tax

Guest Article via Joseph Smith @ TravelTax.com

Written prior to tax reform 2017. Watch for future articles.

What is Tax Home “Abandonment”?

How does tax home abandonment affect the Travel Nurse? What can you do to protect yourself? Joseph Smith from TravelTax.com helps make some sense of this confusing issue.

Many travelers have asked us about recently updated agency policies that require a traveler to return home and either work locally or stay at home for 30 to 45 days every two years. The conversation goes along these lines: “You have been traveling for two years. You need to go home for 45 days and work or you will lose your tax home”. There are variations of this conversation, but the policies require the traveler to go home after 2 years of service.

First, this is an Agency rule. Not something from the tax code.

Unfortunately, it is made out to be an IRS rule which is misleading. So why are many agencies adopting this rule? The returns home are an attempt to avoid the “abandonment rule” that is a part of the regulations regarding a tax home.. A tax home is an economic home (not a permanent residence – those are two different concepts). In other words, it is where one works, not where they live. If a person has 1 permanent job, the area of that job is their tax residence whether they drive 1 mile or 100 miles commuting. Due to the temporary nature of their contracts, a traveler does not have a primary job site unless they stay in the same area over a year, or have repetitive assignments in the same area over 2 or more years.

When one does not have a primary area where they earn their income, the tax home can default to the permanent residence provided they pass two of three of the following tests.

Have significant income at home
Have substantial expenses maintaining their residence which are duplicated while on assignment
Have not abandoned their historical area of work and residence

The agency rules requiring a return home are addressing abandonment in criteria #3. A few examples can help explain how this is applied:

Situation 1: Traveler X does not return home for 3 years.
Situation 2: Traveler X returns home 15 days a year for a vacation
Situation 3: Traveler X comes home 30+ days a year

Traveler 1 has a problem.

A three-year absence without returning home is an abandonment of their home. Going away three years without a return home generally means they will continue the process. Since tax return audit cycles are 3 years (A 4-year-old return cannot be audited except in special circumstances), a 3-year audit will reveal continuous life on the road. They then become “iterant” as a lifestyle choice in the eyes of the IRS.

Traveler 2 has a potential problem.

Under other areas of the tax code, a principal residence is defined as a place that the taxpayer occupies more than 10% of the rented days. Though a traveler maintaining a tax residence does not rent their home in its entirety, the spirit of the rule still applies. 10% of 365 days is 36-37 days. Returns home of minimal duration does not evidence one’s commitment to a residence more than a lack of commitment or abandonment.

Traveler 3 has a substantial time investment at home and more closely follows the 10% rule

It is our experience that Traveler 3 has a lower risk of an adverse audit (not the risk of being audited, but surviving an audit), than the other 2 and we encouraged our healthcare staffing clients to make a point of spending 30 days a year at home if possible. Mobile professionals working in other industries such as the nuclear and engineering allow for different approaches.

While we like to see our clients return home for 30 days a year, this often conflicts with an agency mandate of returning home 45 days every 2 years. As many travelers know, agency rules that establish corporate due diligence before government agencies do not satisfy the traveler’s obligations. Travelers often have a higher burden of proof when under audit. Their obligations exceed that of the agency.

Would you like to learn more?

Check out the TOP 10 Questions for Travel Nurses on Taxes.

Can I rent out my travel nurse tax home and still receive a housing stipend?

Answer:

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Top 10 Tax Questions of Travel Nurses:

What is a tax home?

Can I rent from my parents and make that my tax home?

Where do I find fair market rental rates in my area?

What state do I file in?

How do state taxes work?

What are Per Diems?

What kind of records should I keep?

How long should I keep my records?

Can I get audited for low taxable wages?

What are the two most significant changes under tax reform?

Are you new to Travel Nursing?

Start with our Travel Nursing Guide.

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The Complexities of Tax Homes

Starting point: A tax home and a permanent residence are NOT the same things!

Permanent Residence = Legal Home / Tax Residence = Economic Home

How do the tax rules address the travel nurse?

Are you searching for a GREAT Paying Travel Nurse Position?

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So…. Can you deduct your RV expenses?

First, let’s clear one hurdle.

Second, an RV must be a SECOND residence.

RVs are considered a “residence” in the Tax Code

RVs fall under a peculiar part of the tax code

Summary:

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The Traveler Tax Home “Abandonment” Issue

Where did this come from?

All of this changed with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Fast forward to 2013 – if you recall..

The Traveler

Would you like to learn more?

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Talking Travel Nurse Taxes: The Regional Traveler

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What is Tax Home “Abandonment”?

First, this is an Agency rule. Not something from the tax code.

Traveler 1 has a problem.

Traveler 2 has a potential problem.