Tax Season Checklist for Travel Nurses
Tax season is a little more complicated when you work in more than one place. Federal returns are due April 15, 2026, and a few numbers changed this year. Here is a plain checklist of what is new and what to have in front of you, whether you file yourself or work with a professional.
1. Know the deadline
Filing season opened on January 26, 2026.
Returns are due April 15, 2026.
If you have been putting it off because of a busy contract, now is the time to gather your paperwork.
2. Look at the new overtime deduction
A law signed on July 4, 2025 created a federal deduction for qualified overtime pay. In short:
Up to $12,500 of qualified overtime can be deducted, or $25,000 on a joint return.
Only the premium portion counts, generally the "half" in time-and-a-half.
It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 joint).
It applies to tax years 2025 through 2028, and you do not have to itemize.
It goes on Schedule 1-A.
For 2025, employers did not have to report overtime separately, so many workers are figuring the qualified amount themselves using IRS Notice 2025-69.
3. Gather your records
A short list to pull together:
Every W-2 from every employer or agency you worked for in 2025
Pay records that show your overtime hours and rates
Your stipend amounts and dates, by contract
Your housing agreements and receipts
Any mileage notes you kept
4. Know this year's rates
These are the numbers in effect right now, which matter for the contracts you are working this year:
Milwaukee per diem (fiscal 2026): $140 a night for lodging and $80 a day for meals, from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. First and last travel days get 75 percent of the meals rate, or $60.
IRS business mileage rate: 72.5 cents a mile for miles driven in 2026, up 2.5 cents from the 2025 rate.
The 2026 mileage rate covers miles driven this year. Your 2025 return looks back at 2025.
5. Start a simple system for next year
The easiest tax season is the one where the records already exist. Keep one folder, paper or digital, for each contract: the offer, the pay stubs, the housing agreement and a running mileage note.
How this fits your stay
Your housing stipend is paid to you, and you pay your host directly, so keep those housing records with the rest. At ReNests, I rent furnished private rooms in Milwaukee to traveling healthcare professionals. Every bedroom has its own keypad lock, there is one adult per room, and you deal with a real, named host. Housing that fits your stipend, often little to nothing out of pocket. The listing is on Furnished Finder.
This checklist is general information, not tax advice. Check with a tax professional who works with travelers about your own return and situation.
Here if you need anything, Susan
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