Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends: Part 3: The 3 Factor Threshold Test

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Now that we have made the distinction between indefinite work and temporary work, and we have discussed how to maintain temporary status as a travel nurse, we can move on to our discussion about how to maintain a legitimate tax home. Again, the three factor threshold test is going to be in play for the vast majority of travel nurses because they don’t have a permanent job back at home from which they derive a significant percentage of their income. In this blog post, we’ll begin our detailed discussion of the 3 factor threshold test, paying particular attention to the circumstances faced by travel nurses. Read more

Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends and Tax Deductions: Part 2: Maintaining Temporary Status

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In our previous blog post we laid out the criteria under which individual tax payers can qualify to receive tax-free money to cover their expenses while traveling away from their tax home. We pointed out that for the vast majority of travel nurses, the first consideration is to maintain status as a temporary worker. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what that takes. Read more

Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends and Tax Deductions: Part 1

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A thorough understanding of what it takes to qualify for tax free stipends is of the utmost importance for travel nurses. While many travel nursing agencies, travel nurse recruiters, and even travelers will tell you that there is a lot of “gray area” or “wiggle room” with respect to the qualifications for tax free stipends, the simple fact of the matter is that the IRS and applicable court rulings have made the qualifications quite clear. And it’s certainly clear who doesn’t qualify for tax-free stipends.

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Travel Nursing Pay – The Disadvantages of Tax-Free Money

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You’re probably wondering why anyone would want to avoid tax-free money. I mean, who could possibly want to pay taxes, right? Unfortunately, there’s a catch. In fact, there are quite a few catches. First, you want to make sure you even qualify to receive tax free money. Once you’ve determined that you qualify, you must consider that your taxable income has ramifications for several other financial matters.   Read more

Travel Nursing Pay – The Benefits and Reasons for Tax Free Money

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In our last blog post we provided some basic background information on the tax free stipends that are commonly a part of travel nursing pay packages. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at why tax free stipends are so prevalent in the travel nursing industry and how they can be beneficial to both the agency and the travel nurse.

Every company you come across will be offering you tax free stipends. In fact, you would have difficulty finding an agency willing to pay you an all taxable income with no tax free stipends at all. The very simplified logic for this is that tax free stipends are offered for travel nursing jobs because they can be. But a deeper look at the issue provides insight in to how companies benefit from offering tax free stipends and how they are in a sense almost forced to offer tax free stipends. Read more

Travel Nursing Pay – Tax Free Money – Basic Information

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Now that we have a pretty solid understanding of the basics of the travel nursing pay package (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), let’s discuss the “Tax Free” aspect that everyone seems so fascinated with. I mean, what’s not to be fascinated about?! You’re not going to have to pay any taxes!! Is it possible that Benjamin Franklin was wrong when he said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”? The answer is yes, possibly. Please note the emphasis on “possibly.”

Before I offer any further information it’s important to note that I am not a tax adviser, Certified Public Accountant, or Lawyer. I am not in any way providing any tax advice. All information regarding taxes is informational and intended as a jumping off point. You must seek the help of professional tax advisers to gain a clear understanding of your unique circumstances. We recommend the folks at traveltax.com. That said we can move on to a detailed discussion of this issue. Read more

Travel Nursing Pay Package Comparison Strategy: Part 3

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In Part 2 of this series we provided an example of a “blended hourly” rate comparison for travel nursing pay packages. In this blog post we’ll provide an example of a “total value” comparison for travel nursing pay packages.  The total value comparison is bit more straightforward. Our goal here is determine the total value of the entire contract. To do so, we again begin with the number of weeks and hours per week to determine the total number of hours in the contract. Read more