Personal Finance / Filing Taxes
Despite the joys that the arrival of spring heralds, it also evokes thoughts of tax season, with all of its negative associations. Adding tax filing to nurses’ already stressful schedules virtually guarantees stress and headaches.
The good news is that we’re here to help! We’ve created a guide to help you navigate the tax filing process, and to alleviate any confusion about the details of filing as a nurse.
Specifically, this post will cover the following:
- Tips for filing taxes as a nurse
- Potential tax write-offs for nurses
- Overview of travel nurse contracts
Get job matches in your area + answers to all your nursing career questions
Tips for filing taxes as a nurse
Most people don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to filing their taxes. That doesn’t mean that they make mistakes — it’s more that they don’t take advantage of the various ways of minimizing what they owe or maximizing their refund. Most nurses don’t aren’t aware of all the things they can write off to reduce their tax liability. If you’re a nurse, below you’ll find some valuable tips for filing your taxes.
Keep a paper trail
Hold on to receipts for all your work-related expenses. This is one of the most important things to remember.
Why?
Because your receipts are how you prove that you’re entitled to write these expenses off. Without receipts, you can’t prove you bought anything, and your accountant won’t be able to use them to minimize what you owe the government. It’s a good idea to keep an accordion file or folder that you can easily bring with you when you meet with your account or turn to as you prepare your return.
Know your state’s tax laws
Every state has a different tax laws, so familiarize yourself with the rules where you live. For example, if you live in Florida, you don’t have to pay state income tax. By contrast, some states use a flat rate to calculate income taxes and others have a progressive tax rate. The more you know about your state’s tax rules, the more prepared you’ll be when it comes to tax time.
Of course, we’re just referring to state taxes. You’ll need to prepare your federal income tax return too.
Report all income
If you do any side work as a nurse, whether consulting, writing, driving an Uber, or babysitting, it’s imperative that you report your income, even if the company doesn’t provide you with a W-2 or 1099 form. The law says that you are responsible for paying taxes on that money. Failure to pay taxes can lead to significant risk of legal issues, fines, penalties, and even jail time.
Potential tax write-offs for nurses
Anybody who has ever worked as a nurse knows that the job comes with costs. By some estimates, nurses pay up to $14,000 out of pocket, just to practice every year.
Unfortunately, far too many nurses don’t realize that these costs can be written off.
According to Nurse.org, these are some of the tax write-offs that nurses can claim:
- Uniforms, including scrubs, medical shoes, and scrub coats
- Equipment including your stethoscope, penlights, scissors, etc.
- Licensing fees, i.e., anything you pay to keep your nursing license or any state registrations
- Continuing education costs, including the fees, meals, and cost of travel to conferences or continuing education courses
- Expenses related to staying current in your profession including journal access fees, subscriptions to publications in your field, and professional organization membership dues
Overview of travel nurse contracts
Travel nurses find themselves in a unique tax situation because they can receive stipends as incentives to work, as well as reimbursements.
When travel nurses sign their contracts, they need to make sure all reimbursements and stipend qualifications are specified in their contracts. They also need to make sure their hours are guaranteed.
Not all travel nurse contracts guarantee hours. For example, if it’s a low census day and there aren’t a lot of patients, some hospitals pay nurses for those hours while others don’t. As a travel nurse, you should be able to cancel your contract at any time.
If you are a travel nurse, you can work in a state for up to a year before you become a permanent resident. Travel companies can pay you to relocate within the state.
Nurses need to live at least 50 miles from the facility where they work to be eligible to receive stipends. Travel nurses can live closer than 50 miles, but they won’t receive that extra benefit. Also, travel nurses can only receive stipends for one year.
Stipends are taxed differently. Make sure you are meeting the requirements of your travel nurse contract.
Another option to consider is local travel nursing, which is travel nursing within your state.
At Incredible Health, we are dedicated to helping every nurse find work and the information needed to succeed. That’s our mission. Click here to find out more.
Get job matches in your area + answers to all your nursing career questions
