Travel Nurse Tax Home Question - How to Handle Tax Home for Travel Nursing in Multiple States?

The tax home question is definitely tricky for travel nurses! Your tax home is generally where you earn most of your income, maintain a permanent residence, or regularly return to for work. Based on what you've described, it sounds like you might be at risk claiming Florida as your tax home. For the IRS to consider somewhere your tax home, you typically need to: 1) have regular substantial living expenses there that you maintain even when away, 2) maintain financial and personal ties there, and 3) actually return there regularly for personal/work reasons. While you have some ties to Florida (licenses, voter registration), you don't seem to have substantial recurring expenses there. The IRS might view NYC as your actual tax home since that's where you're spending most of your time and have housing expenses. This matters because travel nurses typically receive tax-free stipends based on working away from their tax home. If the IRS determines NYC is actually your tax home, those stipends could be reclassified as taxable income.

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I was initially skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it after continuing to stress about my multi-state travel nurse taxes. Best decision ever! It identified that I was making a critical mistake with my tax home that could have triggered an audit. The system walked me through establishing a proper tax home in my home state (I was missing some key documentation) and helped me track exactly how many days I worked in each state. When I finished my return, it showed I was actually owed refunds from two states I worked in that I would have missed. It literally paid for itself multiple times over! For anyone jumping between assignments in different states like OP, it's seriously worth checking out. Way better than trying to explain travel healthcare situations to regular tax preparers who look at you like you're speaking another language.

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Travel nurse of 3 years here. The most important thing about maintaining a tax home is REGULAR SUBSTANTIAL EXPENSES. The occasional dinner for your relatives doesn't cut it. My accountant who specializes in healthcare travelers recommended setting up a formal rental agreement with your relatives - even $400-500/month is enough to establish recurring substantial expenses. Pay by check or electronic transfer so there's a paper trail. Also, keep a log of EVERY day you spend in Florida. Calendar entries, receipts from local stores, anything that proves you were physically there. And make sure you're returning between contracts, not just once or twice a year.

Jsut a heads up the NY state tax dept is VERY aggressive about claiming people as residents. I know 2 travel nurses who got audited cause they worked more than 183 days in NY but claimed florida as there home. One lost and had to pay like $12k in back taxes plus penalties. Make sure u can prove u have ACTUAL significant expenses in florida not just mail going there. NY will absolutely count the days u spend in the state and if its over 183 theyre gonna come after u.