What is a Tax Home?

If you are reading this, you are most likely a working traveler, constantly on the road, and you rarely work in the same area consistently. If you do not have a regular location where you earn income, you may need a little help determining exactly where your tax home starts and ends. Luckily, there are laws built into the tax code that lay it all out. Here are the three main rules to keep in mind:

1. You perform part of your business in the area of your main home, and you use that home for lodging while doing business in the area (a job).

2. You have living expenses at your main home that you duplicate because your business requires you to be away from that home.

3. You have not abandoned the area in which both your historical place of lodging and your claimed main home are located. For example, you have a member or members of your family living at your main home, OR you often use that home for lodging.

If you satisfy all three factors, your tax home is the home where you regularly live. If you satisfy only two factors, you may have a tax home depending on all the facts and circumstances. If you satisfy only one factor, you are itinerant (your tax home is wherever you work, and you cannot deduct travel expenses or receive tax-free housing and meal stipends). -IRS Pub 463

• How do I maintain my tax home?

  There are 3 requirements, and you MUST meet 2 out of 3 of them in order to qualify for tax-free stipends. Read more here!

• If I take a permanent job, how does that affect my tax home?

  Taking a permanent job shifts the tax home to that new location unless you have more income from another location. Read more here!

• What role does my agency play in policing my tax home?

  Though the taxpayer is ultimately responsible for their tax home situation, the agency isn’t off the hook! Read more.