Tax home basics for travel nurses and allied health travelers
What a tax home means for temporary assignments, duplicate expenses, and when housing and meal stipends may qualify for tax-free treatment.
What is a tax home?
For most travelers, a tax home is generally your regular place of business—the area where you earn most of your income and maintain a home base. When you take a temporary assignment away from that area, duplicate living costs (housing and meals at the assignment) may qualify for tax-free reimbursements or stipends under IRS rules—if you meet substantiation and other requirements.
Why it matters for stipends
Tax-free treatment is not automatic just because you are “traveling.” Preparers typically look at whether the assignment is temporary, whether you maintain a home at your tax home, and whether stipend amounts stay within federal per-diem limits (often GSA-based for the hospital city). Amounts above those caps may be taxable even when other tests are met.
Allied health travelers
RNs, LPNs, therapists, techs, and other allied health travelers on agency contracts face the same framework when pay is split into housing and meal stipends. Use the travel nurse & allied health calculator for GSA benchmarks; confirm tax-home and assignment facts with your agency and a qualified tax professional.
Not the same as agency “per diem pay”
Stipends on a traveler contract are compensation structured for taxes and compliance—they are not the same tables federal employees use for official travel, and they are not airline contract per diem pay. GSA rates here are a benchmark, not a promise of what you will receive.
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Planning aid only · Not tax, payroll, or legal advice · Methodology