20 Tax Write-Offs for Travel Nurses
NAICS business codeYour NAICS business code is a six-digit string of numbers that shows the type of work your business does. NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System. When you do your taxes, you'll enter it in Box B of your Schedule C.621399
Reviewed bySabrina Wiechart, CPASabrina is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 15 years of experience in tax preparation, planning, and S-Corp compliance. She holds a Master’s in Accounting and specializes in helping self-employed individuals make smart tax decisions. Sabrina is passionate about simplifying the S-Corp process and making sure every client keeps more of what they earn.We get it, nurses have enough on their plate — especially these days. After spending all day in an understaffed health care facility, who has time to think about something like taxes? For travel nurses, especially, the stress is even higher.
Luckily, it’s easier than ever to find work on platforms like Nursa, CareRev, and ShiftKey — and to claim all the tax breaks you're due as a travel nurse, because we've gathered them together for you. So get on these savings, STAT, before you overpay on your next tax bill!
Deduct anything you buy for your office, like pens, binders, folders, printer ink, or a whiteboard.
Any uniforms you're required to wear on the job are considered tax-deductible.
This applies to clothing you can't reasonably wear outside of work. Everyday clothes don't qualify, even if you only wear them on the job.
These policies protect you from malpractice lawsuits — you need them for work. That makes them tax-deductible.
Subscribe to journals like The International Journal of Nursing Studies or The Journal of American Nursing? Consider that a work-related education write-off.
Fees to renew your license to perform your work are fully deductible.
Any required certifications or licensing fees can be deducted.
Fees for required background checks to do your job are deductible.
Testing your work requires you to pay for out of pocket is deductible.
The cut a staffing or gig app takes from your pay — plus any membership or matching fee — is deductible.
If you drive for work ...
Don't forget to write off car-related expenses if you drive for work. This might include driving to patient meetings, local conferences, or even to pick up medical or office supplies.
Parking for a meeting downtown, or any other work trip, is tax-deductible!
A toll while driving to or from a work destination is tax-deductible!
If you buy a new car, you can write off part of the cost every year for five years.
Flashlights, tire iron, duct tape, and other tools you may need in your vehicle are deductible.
Car insurance monthly fees, registration, even roadside assistance are partially deductible — if you use the actual expense method. The standard mileage rate already covers them.
Oil changes, repairs, and regular checkups are deductible if you use the actual expense method. Take the standard mileage rate instead and they're already baked into your per-mile deduction.
If you discuss work at a restaurant ...
Grabbing food or drinks with mentors, patients, or fellow healthcare workers to talk about work is considered a business meal and can be written off your taxes.
What's more, you don't need to hold on to your physical receipts to claim your business meal expenses (unless you spent over $75 in cash). For the IRS, bank and credit card statements are good enough!
If you discuss work with a coworker, mentor, client, or prospective client, it's a write-off — 50% of the tab.
If you leave town for work ...
As a travel nurse, you can claim all the out-of-pocket expenses you incur during short-term contracts, as long as you're there for less than a year and you maintain a tax home.
Your tax home is essentially a regular base of operations at your permanent address, where you're still paying rent or a mortgage — even if you're often working in a totally different state. You keep most of your stuff there, and your partner or family may still live there. It's also where you're registered to vote, and where your tax documents get sent.
If you have a tax home, you can write off any unreimbursed costs you're forced to pay when you're on a contract — including that furnished apartment you rent. (Again, that's assuming you don't get a stipend or reimbursement.)
You can also write off travel expenses if you head to another city where you aren't even working for a nursing conference or workshop. That's also considered business travel, so you can claim expenses like your hotel and lodging.
Planes, trains, and car rentals are all work-related travel costs that can be written off.
When you travel for work, lodging expenses such as hotel rooms or Airbnb are write-offs.
When you're traveling for work, your meals are 50% deductible — takeout included. (Long-haul truck drivers subject to DOT hours-of-service rules can deduct 80%.)
If you work from home ...
This one's less common for travel nurses. But say you accept a contract in your home city. If you regularly do some of your work from a dedicated workstation in your home, you'll be eligible to write off home office expenses for the months you live in your home city.
A desk, chairs, lamps, and other home office necessities are all tax write-offs. Anything over about $2,500 gets depreciated on Form 4562 instead of written off all at once.
Repairs just for your home office are 100% deductible. Repairs to the rest of your home count too, prorated by your business-use percentage on Form 8829.
Gotta keep the lights on in your home office! A portion of your electricity bill counts.
Whether it's rental or homeowners insurance, you can write off a portion through your home office deduction.
It'd be hard to work in an office without running water, huh? Your water bill counts.
You need internet to do your job! If you claim a home office, deduct it prorated on Form 8829 along with your other utilities. Internet you pay for on the road, purely for work, is 100% deductible.
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