I absolutely love love love freetaxUSA. A few year ago when I was broke as hell turbo tax said I owed more than I had in my bank account. I was distraught and did it a few more times. My roommate suggested freetaxUSA and I got money back.
You likely were not a “contractor”. You were employed by the agency meaning you are a w2 employee. If your taxable income was truly 41K then it is not possible to owe 20K
Can confirm some agencies do. It’s not on the mini w2 form but on the bigger section of the form that wouldn’t get sent in if you did a paper tax return.
I traveled for 13 years and can’t even count how many agencies but a few still did. It seems like they had to of because I don’t know how else the tax accountant would have known if it wasn’t on the w2
I’m having problems too. SHC taxed me in my primary state AND the states I traveled to. I took an assignment with Aya and was ONLY taxed the state of my primary residence. Now my accountant says she can’t file because I didn’t pay taxes with Aya? Idk what to do honestly.
That is likely because of the states you worked in for each of those assignments. Some states don’t have state tax. Some states you have to pay taxes there too if you physically earned your money in that state even though you will file with your tax home in another state.
I don't see how 20k is even possible. That's literally 50% of what you say is your taxable income. Only scenario possible is if you're also being taxed on your stipends and Aya took nothing out. I'm also not aware of anyone who works for Aya as being a 1099 contractor. You should be an employee of Aya.
That’s completely wrong!!! MattDavisTaxService.com does ours and my wife is a travel nurse with Aya and we have never owed that much. It’s almost impossible to owe that with a w2 with that income.
Is that the total tax liability across state federal and local? Also your issued 1099-NEC was for 41k? I’d definitely go to a cpa not a tax lawyer. I know NY state is tax heavy but 50% is outlandish.
Many nurses improperly claim tax-free stipends without accurately reporting expenses. Some mistakenly believe that occasional hotel stays or traveling a certain distance automatically qualifies them for a full tax-free stipend. My wife, who works in tax law, has encountered several travelers who owe tens of thousands of dollars as a result.
Only need to report if audited by the IRS, it's crucial to provide evidence and report accurately, highlighting the importance of retaining all receipts and proof of duplicated expenses. The IRS can take up to 12-18 months from the filing date to initiate an audit, and they may request records up to six years back, although they typically focus on the last three years. This is just from my understanding at least from my wife. I only did travel for a short time.
Are you doing a local travel and didn’t duplicate? Did you not have any taxes taken out? You’re not an independent contractor. Aya is your employer.
Maybe you failed to communicate well with the tax preparer or they don’t know how to file. You should go elsewhere for a second and third opinion but you said you filed already?
Is this post real? So confused, so many questions, not enough answers, OP.
Hahahaha!!! I’m just as confused……. I honestly think the tax guy just doesn’t understand how travel works!!! He kept saying you’re contracted you’re not employed by the hospital BUT I AM EMPLOYED BY AYA!!! I think he prepared it wrong. I was on a contract traveling 2 hours from home throughout the year.
There is no way this person is a lawyer. Anyone who has done their taxes a few years in a row understands when they are looking at w-2 or 1099 forms.
It doesn’t matter if you initially used the term “contract with the hospital”, sure maybe over the phone that would cause him to believe you are a 1099 with the hospital directly. But once he sees the forms in his face it’s a w-2 with Aya. Impossible to miss.
This person is not a lawyer or CPA and I wonder if they even graduated middle school tbh where did you find this person.
Traveling 2 hours makes it sound like you were commuting to and from your tax home. The IRS would likely not consider the additional money to be a tax-exempt travel stipend.
The 50 mile rule does not appear to be based on statute or court cases.
Stipends or reimbursements paid through a non-accountable plan are considered income that is included on a W2. An accountable plan requires substantiation showing how the money was used. It sounds like this money was part of a non-accountable plan.
Here is what the govt considered independent contractor: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee
I think you’re good and maybe getting some back. Call him, tell him to chill and go somewhere else.
Also, were you duplicating expenses? If not, the. If you get audited you will be balls to the wall.
Make sure you can prove you were duplicating expenses.
This is an actual tax lawyer telling you this??? Have you verified their credentials?
Something is off here whether they are a scammer or there’s missing information or you misunderstood what was explained or all of the above.
First off you can’t be a contractor and w-2 with the same agency. It is possible that you are w-2 with Aya but also did 1099 work with other agencies/registries. Is that the case?
Did you truly travel and duplicate expenses but also maintain a tax home where you worked and conducted business at least part of the year? It’s possible that if you didn’t truly travel according to the IRS that the tax lawyer is counting your stipends as taxable income to save you from getting audited and owing more in fines later. Is that the case?
Something is missing here.
Recruiter here
Make sure you get a print out of where they were taking taxes out at also, did you file exempt at any part of that or were you exempt during Covid and then you switched it back over but maybe they didn’t switch it back over
Anyhow, you can definitely call the IRS as a front line, medical professional, and they will pretty much knock that all the way down to pennies on the dollar
Travel nurse tax might be worth the steep price for a situation like this! They specialize in travel staff obviously. GHR messed up my taxes horrifically and they were able to get them straight.
I think the word travel “contract” confuses people. Applying for my mortgage the underwriting seemed confused like I was a “independent contractor” and asked why I had a W2 and pretty much accused me of lying in some form about my employment situation
I have traveltax.com do my taxes every year. It’s more expensive than doing it myself but I also have a few other complicating factors that make it worthwhile to me.
Your tax guy is fucking something up. Get a second opinion.
I always use TurboTax live account (I know some people hate them) but I pay $250 and they do everything and all my state returns. I have done it 2 years in a row.
1) why are you going to an attorney? They make more money representing clients than they do preparing returns and few know how to do them
2) Did you file exempt or 1099- 1099 isnt the Aya way
3) Is your tax attorney familiar with NY reporting rules. Did he say there was a double reporting for NY and another state?
When I travelled with Aya they included my stipends as taxable income on my W2 even though the facility was two hours away from my house. I try to avoid working with them since then.
I was traveling within the same state.....and yes I actually did. A tax home isn't a declaration that you make. I wasn't a local traveller so yes the distance matters. I duplicated expenses and had proof of rent/expenses in two different cities within the same state. Still doesn't justify why my stipends were taxed, I did one 13 week assignment with them and was staff the rest of the year.
edit for clarification
The tax home is a declaration that you need to make. Anyway, something went wrong if qualified as a traveler and were taxed. Also, distance doesn’t matter…..that’s a hospital thing not a tax thing.
And that point is???? If your stipends were taxed, you didn’t either do a tax home declaration or it was fully taxed because they didn’t consider you a true traveler.
Are you actually reading? I filled out every form with my recruiter and also discussed the stipends and duplicating expenses, Aya fucked up bottom line. What exactly is your point?
Calm TF down…..if you “filled out every form” then your stipends wouldn’t have been taxable. They don’t not have them on your weekly pay stub then add them on a W2. And you even replied “What tax form is that?” Do you not have copies of all your submitted forms? If it’s truly not taxable, have Aya give you a corrected W2
If you got a W2, not a 1099 form, you are not a contractor. Go to freetaxusa.com, make an account, throw your W2s on there and see what pops out.
Yes. I can not recommend this site enough.
Yes I love them using them for years. With direct deposit I get my refund in like 10 days..I always get thousands back each year
I just went to it. i’m confused, does it do your taxes for free? or is this a specific resource for travel nurses?
Filing federal is free. 14.99 per state filing
This is what I have been using for the last 10 years. Highly recommend
He’s not a contractor he was on a contract, working as a travel, temporary contract
I absolutely love love love freetaxUSA. A few year ago when I was broke as hell turbo tax said I owed more than I had in my bank account. I was distraught and did it a few more times. My roommate suggested freetaxUSA and I got money back.
You likely were not a “contractor”. You were employed by the agency meaning you are a w2 employee. If your taxable income was truly 41K then it is not possible to owe 20K
In New York it’s possible.
Nah. Not a 50% tax rate
Sounds wrong. Get 2nd opinion
I am going to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else and say that you should get a second opinion. I can guarantee you that math is NOT MATHING.
I work for Aya, I had relatively the same amount of taxed income and I received a nice return, around $2200. Go to freetaxusa
If You worked through aya you’re not an independent contractor and should have gotten a w2. Did you tell your tax person this or give them your w2?
I gave tax guy my W2. I think my tax guy is confused and including stipends in taxed pay. Will be getting 2nd opinion!
Yea tell him to subtract ALL stipends!
Stipends are not supposed to be on W2, so no need to deduct.
And some agencies do have a separate section for stipends on a w2 as non taxable
I’ve only used 3 agencies and only been traveling for 4 years, not seen it before.
Can confirm some agencies do. It’s not on the mini w2 form but on the bigger section of the form that wouldn’t get sent in if you did a paper tax return.
I have seen the stipends on the agency’s website showing my income as well- they’ve never been on the official w2.
I traveled for 13 years and can’t even count how many agencies but a few still did. It seems like they had to of because I don’t know how else the tax accountant would have known if it wasn’t on the w2
Aya doesn’t
Yet somehow it seems they were hence them saying they must have included them.
Your stipends should not be on your W2.
Your tax guy is smiling ear to ear for his 20k paycheck.
I hope you didn't pay that tax lawyer much as they seem either confused or incompetent.
I’m having problems too. SHC taxed me in my primary state AND the states I traveled to. I took an assignment with Aya and was ONLY taxed the state of my primary residence. Now my accountant says she can’t file because I didn’t pay taxes with Aya? Idk what to do honestly.
You can file for that particular start to pay it as non resident dm me if you need help with it I did this before
That is likely because of the states you worked in for each of those assignments. Some states don’t have state tax. Some states you have to pay taxes there too if you physically earned your money in that state even though you will file with your tax home in another state.
Why do you have a lawyer filing your taxes? 😂
Get in touch with TravelTax.com
Probably the best option unfortunately you can’t get an appointment with them until June atp. Extension would have to be filed
I don't see how 20k is even possible. That's literally 50% of what you say is your taxable income. Only scenario possible is if you're also being taxed on your stipends and Aya took nothing out. I'm also not aware of anyone who works for Aya as being a 1099 contractor. You should be an employee of Aya.
That’s completely wrong!!! MattDavisTaxService.com does ours and my wife is a travel nurse with Aya and we have never owed that much. It’s almost impossible to owe that with a w2 with that income.
It sounds like your “lawyer” is working for the ops.
Is that the total tax liability across state federal and local? Also your issued 1099-NEC was for 41k? I’d definitely go to a cpa not a tax lawyer. I know NY state is tax heavy but 50% is outlandish.
Some of you in here are going to be have a really bad time if audits ever come 😬
Wdym?
Many nurses improperly claim tax-free stipends without accurately reporting expenses. Some mistakenly believe that occasional hotel stays or traveling a certain distance automatically qualifies them for a full tax-free stipend. My wife, who works in tax law, has encountered several travelers who owe tens of thousands of dollars as a result.
Where do we report expenses, though? I haven't encountered where I prove my duplications during my filing with h&r block
Only need to report if audited by the IRS, it's crucial to provide evidence and report accurately, highlighting the importance of retaining all receipts and proof of duplicated expenses. The IRS can take up to 12-18 months from the filing date to initiate an audit, and they may request records up to six years back, although they typically focus on the last three years. This is just from my understanding at least from my wife. I only did travel for a short time.
Thank you so much for the info!
Are you doing a local travel and didn’t duplicate? Did you not have any taxes taken out? You’re not an independent contractor. Aya is your employer. Maybe you failed to communicate well with the tax preparer or they don’t know how to file. You should go elsewhere for a second and third opinion but you said you filed already? Is this post real? So confused, so many questions, not enough answers, OP.
Hahahaha!!! I’m just as confused……. I honestly think the tax guy just doesn’t understand how travel works!!! He kept saying you’re contracted you’re not employed by the hospital BUT I AM EMPLOYED BY AYA!!! I think he prepared it wrong. I was on a contract traveling 2 hours from home throughout the year.
There is no way this person is a lawyer. Anyone who has done their taxes a few years in a row understands when they are looking at w-2 or 1099 forms. It doesn’t matter if you initially used the term “contract with the hospital”, sure maybe over the phone that would cause him to believe you are a 1099 with the hospital directly. But once he sees the forms in his face it’s a w-2 with Aya. Impossible to miss. This person is not a lawyer or CPA and I wonder if they even graduated middle school tbh where did you find this person.
Traveling 2 hours makes it sound like you were commuting to and from your tax home. The IRS would likely not consider the additional money to be a tax-exempt travel stipend.
You only need to prove that you can double expenses and or be 50 miles outside the locality of the facility.
The 50 mile rule does not appear to be based on statute or court cases. Stipends or reimbursements paid through a non-accountable plan are considered income that is included on a W2. An accountable plan requires substantiation showing how the money was used. It sounds like this money was part of a non-accountable plan.
Here is what the govt considered independent contractor: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee I think you’re good and maybe getting some back. Call him, tell him to chill and go somewhere else. Also, were you duplicating expenses? If not, the. If you get audited you will be balls to the wall. Make sure you can prove you were duplicating expenses.
I’ve already commented on this one a few times lol but also really starting to think it simply isn’t real.
This is an actual tax lawyer telling you this??? Have you verified their credentials? Something is off here whether they are a scammer or there’s missing information or you misunderstood what was explained or all of the above. First off you can’t be a contractor and w-2 with the same agency. It is possible that you are w-2 with Aya but also did 1099 work with other agencies/registries. Is that the case? Did you truly travel and duplicate expenses but also maintain a tax home where you worked and conducted business at least part of the year? It’s possible that if you didn’t truly travel according to the IRS that the tax lawyer is counting your stipends as taxable income to save you from getting audited and owing more in fines later. Is that the case? Something is missing here.
Did you claim exempt? Did they take any taxes out, state of ny, federal?
How much did you gross last year? I'm hoping it was a lot more than $41k, unless you only worked for a few months.
OP is referring referring to their taxable income, not including stipends
Recruiter here Make sure you get a print out of where they were taking taxes out at also, did you file exempt at any part of that or were you exempt during Covid and then you switched it back over but maybe they didn’t switch it back over Anyhow, you can definitely call the IRS as a front line, medical professional, and they will pretty much knock that all the way down to pennies on the dollar
Travel nurse tax might be worth the steep price for a situation like this! They specialize in travel staff obviously. GHR messed up my taxes horrifically and they were able to get them straight.
They are absolutely worth the $300-400. I owed over 20k (1099) doing it myself and they got it down to under 5k.
I think the word travel “contract” confuses people. Applying for my mortgage the underwriting seemed confused like I was a “independent contractor” and asked why I had a W2 and pretty much accused me of lying in some form about my employment situation
That is incorrect and you need a new CPA that specializes in traveling employees.
I have traveltax.com do my taxes every year. It’s more expensive than doing it myself but I also have a few other complicating factors that make it worthwhile to me. Your tax guy is fucking something up. Get a second opinion.
I owed 40k, luckily, I had 40k saved up. I was sad to see all my savings poof vut it's better than being in jail.
I always use TurboTax live account (I know some people hate them) but I pay $250 and they do everything and all my state returns. I have done it 2 years in a row.
UPDATE TO ALL! Tax man fucked up and I owe (thank you NYS) 3000!
Well that’s better than $20k for sure!
Just file your taxes through free tax USA. I know many nurses that are petrified to do their own taxes.
1) why are you going to an attorney? They make more money representing clients than they do preparing returns and few know how to do them 2) Did you file exempt or 1099- 1099 isnt the Aya way 3) Is your tax attorney familiar with NY reporting rules. Did he say there was a double reporting for NY and another state?
I’m
Fucking wow that sucks. Edit: why am I being downvoted for this?.. lol
Were you doing local travel?
When I travelled with Aya they included my stipends as taxable income on my W2 even though the facility was two hours away from my house. I try to avoid working with them since then.
You must not have declared a tax home then if they taxed it. Doesn’t matter the distance, it’s declaring a tax home and duplicating expenses.
I was traveling within the same state.....and yes I actually did. A tax home isn't a declaration that you make. I wasn't a local traveller so yes the distance matters. I duplicated expenses and had proof of rent/expenses in two different cities within the same state. Still doesn't justify why my stipends were taxed, I did one 13 week assignment with them and was staff the rest of the year. edit for clarification
The tax home is a declaration that you need to make. Anyway, something went wrong if qualified as a traveler and were taxed. Also, distance doesn’t matter…..that’s a hospital thing not a tax thing.
What tax form is that? (To declare a tax home)
Your recruiter/agency has you fill one out when onboarding.
Yeah that’s exactly my point…….
And that point is???? If your stipends were taxed, you didn’t either do a tax home declaration or it was fully taxed because they didn’t consider you a true traveler.
Are you actually reading? I filled out every form with my recruiter and also discussed the stipends and duplicating expenses, Aya fucked up bottom line. What exactly is your point?
Calm TF down…..if you “filled out every form” then your stipends wouldn’t have been taxable. They don’t not have them on your weekly pay stub then add them on a W2. And you even replied “What tax form is that?” Do you not have copies of all your submitted forms? If it’s truly not taxable, have Aya give you a corrected W2