Can you take a travel therapy contract close to home?

You can, but how it is paid depends on where you sleep: tax-free stipends are for living away from home, and the IRS test is whether your work keeps you away from your tax home long enough that you need to sleep or rest there. A contract you can drive home from each night may be offered as a local contract instead, so ask before you compare it with one farther away.

By ProTherapy Staffing, published November 4, 2026.

What makes a contract a travel contract for tax purposes?

Being away from home overnight for the work. The IRS says in its guide to travel expenses that you are traveling away from home if “Your duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home (defined later) substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, and You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.”

So the question is not how far the facility is on a map, but whether the job keeps you away from your tax home overnight. Tax home rules explains what counts as your tax home.

Is there a mileage rule?

Not in the IRS guidance. The publication sets no distance; the test is the overnight one above. As the glossary’s entry on mileage rules puts it, a distance minimum in an offer is agency policy, not IRS law.

So when an agency says a contract is too close for stipends, ask whether that is its own rule. Different agencies can draw the line in different places.

What happens to the stipends if you sleep at home?

They are hard to justify. The same IRS guide says that if you go back to your tax home on your days off, “you aren’t considered away from home while you are in your hometown.” If you sleep at home every night, you are not living away from home at all.

Expect a contract you can commute to each day to be paid as taxable wages. Ask the agency how it would pay this one, and for your own taxes ask a tax professional.

If you want to know which open contracts are near you and how each would be paid, tell a ProTherapy recruiter where you are based: Find my next contract.

How do you compare a contract near home with one farther away?

Compare what you keep, not the weekly figure. A travel package pays stipends against a second household, set against the federal rates for the place you sleep: GSA explains that “We establish the per diem rates that federal agencies use to reimburse their employees for lodging and meals and incidental expenses.” A contract near home has no second rent to pay.

Put both offers side by side with the costs each one brings, and use the tax home checker if you are not sure your home qualifies.

What if you would stay over some nights?

A long drive can mean staying near the facility on some nights and going home on others. Ask the agency how it would pay that arrangement before you accept, and keep a record of where you slept each night. Ask too how a week is handled when you end up going home more often than you planned.

Be straight with the agency about where you will stay. A package built on nights away that you do not spend away is a problem for you as well as for the agency.

Why take a contract close to home at all?

Because it can suit the rest of your life: no second household to run, nights at home with family, and new settings and experience without moving. Some therapists alternate a contract near home with one farther away, and a contract close to home can be a way to try a new setting before you take one far from it.

It is a different trade than a contract far from home, not a worse one. Decide which you want before you start comparing offers.

How do you find contracts near you?

Start with the state where you live. The jobs by state pages list open contracts state by state, and reading a job listing explains what each line tells you.

When you talk to a recruiter, say plainly that you want to stay close to home and how far you are willing to drive, so you are not sent contracts that do not fit.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take a travel therapy contract in my own city?

You can take the job, but if you sleep at home it is unlikely to be paid with tax-free stipends. The IRS test for traveling away from home is whether your duties keep you away from your tax home long enough that you need to sleep or rest while away.

Is there a mileage rule for travel therapy stipends?

Not in IRS guidance. The publication sets no distance; a mileage minimum in an offer is the agency's own policy.

How do I compare a local contract with a travel one?

Compare what you keep after the costs of each, not the weekly figure. A travel package pays stipends against a second household; a contract near home has no second rent to pay.

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