locum per diem pay question

[indytravl]

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hi,
question regarding the taxability of pay for locum work. There's a certain pay scale for work. Then they are paying for mileage to travel to the job as well as a per diem rate for housing. The locum agency ntoes that the par for work day is taxable but the mileage pay & housing pay are tax-free.

Does anyone have experience about that? Is that true? If so, how does that work? Anyone have any accountants or lawyers they've worked with who they can recommend in the Montgomery, Al or Albany, NY area? Can PM me the details, would appreciate.

thanks!

 

[The White Coat Investor]

hi,
question regarding the taxability of pay for locum work. There's a certain pay scale for work. Then they are paying for mileage to travel to the job as well as a per diem rate for housing. The locum agency ntoes that the par for work day is taxable but the mileage pay & housing pay are tax-free.

Does anyone have experience about that? Is that true? If so, how does that work? Anyone have any accountants or lawyers they've worked with who they can recommend in the Montgomery, Al or Albany, NY area? Can PM me the details, would appreciate.

thanks!

This is similar to military pay. The reimbursed expenses are tax-free and the salary is not.

 

[indytravl]

oh, sounds like it's possible then in the civillian sector... so at the end of the year, only the salary is totalled & used to figure taxes?
thanks

 

[Locumsreview]

I did locums for about 2 years and used an accounting agency called Martin and Wall. They are based in Washington DC, Chicago, and Las Vegas.

Be careful, keep a detailed log book of miles.

I had another accountant before Martin and Wall who was not very good. He steered me in a bad direction. Not all accountants are created equal. He had me buy quickbooks and then charged me a 250 fee for quickbooks training which wasn't really useful. Besides the fact, that quickbooks is not really useful for somebody doing locums. My only deductions were food, travel, and a computer. Quickbooks was overkill...and irritating.

jason

 

[Boatswain2PA]

This is similar to military pay. The reimbursed expenses are tax-free and the salary is not.

WCI - please forgive me for resurrecting a 10 year old thread, but this was the only thread I found about this topic.

Do you know, or can you point me to any resources that WOULD know, whether a IC/1099 locums provider can pay themselves per diem?

I frequently drive hundred miles to jobs where I work 24-72 hour shifts. I have been claiming deductions for mileage and expenses (food, and occasionally hotels).

It's common for locums nurses to get paid hourly, and then bank their (tax free) per diem, but I haven't heard of any IC/1099 providers doing this. Why not??

Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

WCI - please forgive me for resurrecting a 10 year old thread, but this was the only thread I found about this topic.

Do you know, or can you point me to any resources that WOULD know, whether a IC/1099 locums provider can pay themselves per diem?

I frequently drive hundred miles to jobs where I work 24-72 hour shifts. I have been claiming deductions for mileage and expenses (food, and occasionally hotels).

It's common for locums nurses to get paid hourly, and then bank their (tax free) per diem, but I haven't heard of any IC/1099 providers doing this. Why not??

Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

It's not "per diem" but you can deduct travel expenses. There are IRS publications on this sort of thing that explain all the rules.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf

 

[Boatswain2PA]

I am deducting travel expenses, but can I deduct M&IE per diem (about $40/day) instead of tracking all of my meals?

I read that publication (was first link when I searched for this topic), but it doesn't really say.

I can't find anything that says I can't, but I suspect that since nobody else seems to be doing it (except for nurses who are paid a per diem by a company) it's probably verboten.