Community Forums

RV-Writer · 10-01-2016, 09:57 AM

Tax laws are convoluted - big surprise.

Does anyone travel nurse with their RV? How do you qualify for the per diem for housing? I have heard you cannot unless you have some sort of home base with duplicated costs that won't apply to an RV because it is considered a home. I think it would apply to the RV park expenses though. Or do you find other places to park?

Please let me know how you work this. Wife would be doing 2 contracts a year.

Thanks
Jim

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-01-2016, 10:16 AM

Here's a link to some previous threads that may be useful.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Trav...om%2Fforums%2F

FatChance · 10-01-2016, 03:32 PM

Google "tax home". Will you have one and be working some distance from it?

A traveler is paid a package made up by an hourly wage, per diem payments for food and lodging and health care and other benefits. Some of it is taxable, some of it isn't. If you have a tax home, the per diem payments could be tax free!

If you do not have a tax home, you should still qualify to be paid a per diem allowance but it may be considered regular income and not be tax deductible. You can spend the per diem any way you want, including RV parks, just like you can eat anything you want with the food portion of the per diem.

We are just getting ready to start doing this. DW will be doing traveling nurse jobs, we sold our home already and will be full-timing. With no permanent home, tax or otherwise (mail box somewhere does not matter) we will live in the RV near the hospital during the contract period then move on to the next.

In our situation, the per diem payments for housing and food will not be deductible. Depending on your situation, you can have the travel company structure the payments differently. We would rather have the hourly rate higher and per diem lower to increase wages toward her social security earnings, we have to pay taxes on it anyhow. It doesn't matter much to the traveling company, they only care about how it totals out.

Note: I am not a tax expert nor play one on TV. This is only my current understanding.

Some people do arrange with friends or family to use their residential address to appear like they are maintaining a home while traveling and living in their RV to get the tax deductiblity for the per diem, but a simple audit will find that out easily. We prefer to be legal.

Get educated at traveltax.com and talk to a tax specialist.

RV-Writer · 10-02-2016, 08:17 AM

Thank you for the great reply.

I think we will be in the same boat as you. We also want to be totally legal.

I do not want nor need the IRS after us.

We may end up getting a home in a state where the kid goes to college or rent one which means we would probably be able to deduct the RV park fees at end of year but nothing else I guess.

How do you deal with the nursing license? We want to stay with compact states but don't you have to have a primary residence where your nursing license is?

Thanks
Jim

FatChance · 10-02-2016, 09:48 AM

Jim, to be precise, you would not deduct the RV Park fees, you would deduct the entire per diem payments she is paid that you could choose to spend on park fees, an apartment rental or just boondock and pocket the money. You would not need to present receipts to the travel company, they just give you a negotiated amount for the term of the contract, paid weekly or monthly. Food per diem is the same.

They also pay travel expenses to and from the contract site but I do not yet know the tax situation for that money if you are a full-timer.

We have been in Durango for 17 years so DW has a Colorado license (this is still our legal domicile) which I guess is also valid in all the compact states. I think she would need a new license if we change our legal domicile (South Dakota?) but, to be honest, I am not yet sure how that works...

RV-Writer · 10-02-2016, 01:54 PM

Thank you.

It all gets so confusing.

If full timing without a sticks &a bricks home I don't think we can deduct the housing or food per diems because not duplicating expenses.

But not sure

I will get ahold of the tax guy tomorrow and see what I can figure out. I will report back here