Update: 2/5/23

If you haven’t read this article yet, please do as I still think it has some valuable information as to why we DO NOT file our own taxes. However, here is an update as well.

We are now going into our 4th year using Travel Tax to prepare our yearly taxes and WE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER. The amount of money we continue to make as traveling physical therapists is worth spending what we consider to be a small amount for a professional service. The piece of mind we have knowing we also have someone who will back us in case of an audit has allowed us to continue traveling stress free.

Travel Tax has also had so many questions on “what is a tax home” that they now have a fee for service consultation on answering just that question. Last I checked it was $55, but you can click here to read their information and fees. Despite traveling for 5 1/2 years, we did have our own consult about a year ago to answer some lingering questions we had, as well as confirm our tax home is in order. Having been doing this for so long, we knew many of the answers, but there were some new things we learned as well. This included using the “Shared Expenses” method for our tax home (which will be updated in our “What is a Tax Home” post).

For anyone considering paying for this service, we think it is well worth it, and will continue to use them for our taxes.

now back to the article…

Do you file your own taxes?

Turbo tax who?

Joking aside, I have nothing against turbo tax. It seems like a great tool if you want to file your taxes without professional help. If you are a “do it yourself “tax person more power to you. I think if it saves you money, and you feel comfortable using it, that’s great.

Our opinion

As travel healthcare workers, we are dealing with slightly more complex filings, especially when working in multiple states a year. That’s why we choose NOT go the “do it yourself” route.

We believe the benefit of paying for someone to file our taxes highly outweighs the cost of doing it ourselves.

We want to spend more time doing this, not taxes! (Caddo Lake, East Texas)

As soon as we began working in 3-4 states a year and had to maintain a tax home to benefit from the living stipends, that’s when we drew the line. For us, it seemed much simpler to pay someone else who knows what they’re doing.

You may feel different about this, but taxes aren’t my speciality. Between staying on top of my game in physical therapy, wanting to spend as much time as I can exploring travel locations, and limiting my stress, a few hundred dollars is a small price to pay.

I also have a concern about ensuring taxes are done right and that my tax home is secure to guarantee I can keep getting my tax free living stipend. We have met travelers who are much less concerned about being audited and may or may not have a “secure” tax home, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the IRS hitting me with an audit and claiming I owe them money plus interest.

so what do we do?

We use TravelTax. I was skeptical at first because it is an online business and you upload all your forms to be completed and then sent back to you for signature. However, after looking through their services, reading their blog, and utilizing their resources for tracking important tax figures, we decided to give them a try.

Best decision we could have made. I think what drew us to use their services was the confusion around our tax home and wanting someone to assure us that we were on the right track. We want to make this travel journey our lifestyle for the foreseeable future, and therefore want to ensure the lowest chance of incorrectly filing. What made this transition to paying for an online tax service even easier was that they list out all of their fees on their website. If you know how many states you have worked in, and how you will be filing, you can get near an exact estimate for what it will cost.

The benefits of paying for a tax professional

I don’t have experience with other professionals outside of TravelTax, but here are a few more reasons why we feel good about utilizing their services.

They guarantee they will back you in an audit if your taxes were filed with them.

“ If you use TravelTax, there is no charge for audit defense for any return we prepare and file.”

— Travel Tax

You have a tax professional, who is not only well versed in taxes as a traveler, but he was a traveler himself. I think this helps when you have questions and he has first hand experience of where you are coming from and how to answer.

By now I want to say, I’m not trying to sell you on using TravelTax. I just want to provide travelers, especially new travelers, with good information on the benefits of using a tax professional. I just happen to have had really good experiences with TravelTax.

Honestly, when we started traveling a few years ago, we had no idea what we were doing.

What’s a tax home?
How do I get one?
Do I have to pay taxes in every state?
Why is my hourly wage so low?
Can I really collect all that living stipend without being taxed?

The list went on and on. I now know my situation very well thanks to the explanations we received through multiple conversations with TravelTax. I would suggest, even if you aren’t sure you want to file with them, go check out their website. It contains a very good FAQ page that will likely answer many that you have.

There is one other reason we recommend this company. Their customer service has been excellent and they have been answering our tax home questions before we started filing with them. Even when we receive additional documents regarding our taxes, like the time Louisiana sent us a letter asking for further clarification on our taxes, TravelTax was very helpful. I have no idea what Louisiana was asking for, but one email to TravelTax and I receive, “it’s taken care of”. Talk about helpful!

summary

Our experience is not meant to convert you to using TravelTax, but to inform you about your options. This has been great for us, and we plan to continue using them based on their customer service and what we consider fair prices.

Whether you have a tax professional or are a “do it yourself” tax person, as travelers it is important to file correctly to avoid any discrepancies that may come back to haunt us.

If you have any questions that aren’t being answer about your tax situation, I would highly recommend checking out TravelTax. Their website alone is extremely informative.

Hope this helps someone out there considering travel!

Filing Taxes As A Traveler: Why We Use A Professional