Digital Nomad? Know The Tax Rules To Avoid Trouble!

Being self-employed gives you lots of freedom.

Freedom to choose where you work ie: being a digital nomad.

Freedom to choose when you work.

Freedom to choose who you work with.

Freedom to choose how much you charge.

This last choice is the one that many people find very attractive in freelancing.

It’s also something that can cause lots of confusion when it comes time to file your income tax return.

It’s also something that has to factor into your decision on how to file taxes.

My buddy Shane who ran Beating Broke brought this topic to my attention.

He made an inquiry about what his sister-in-law’s tax responsibility is as a self-employed individual getting paid for jobs done on location outside of her state of residence.

It got me thinking, and I realized that it’s an issue that many freelancers may already, or will one day face in their own businesses and need to have the tax requirements for digital nomads broken down for them.

One word of advice: all of this applies to cash transactions as well as barter.

Digital Nomads & Tax Locations

The first thing I’d like to clarify about income taxes as a digital nomad regards location and income.

A lot of people think that a tax liability is created based on where the client is located.

I can understand that point considering that’s how sales tax is calculated–based on where the purchase transaction takes place or is initiated.

However, that application is only good on that one specific type of tax.

Income tax liability only concerns where the income was earned, that is where you were doing the actual work that the client is paying you for.

The example I always use to help people understand this is the case of the multi-state company paying its employees:

Say you work for a large corporation based in New York City, and it has offices in every other major city in the United States.

When it pays its employees, this company doesn’t treat everyone as working in NYC, instead, it withholds taxes from their pay and reports the income for only the city/state where each person actually performs their duties.

This is how you should look at reporting income received when you cross state lines.

It is also the basis for everything that will follow…you as a digital nomad only need to be concerned with where you are when you earn the income.

You don’t have to worry about where you are based or where the client is located.

Income Tax Confusion Among Digital Nomads

As an employee, you always had that taken care of for you…the company you worked for would handle all of that work in issuing your W-2.

When you’re self-employed, you work for yourself (obviously!) which means that you “pay yourself” and don’t get to enjoy that simplicity.

Instead, you have to deal with self-employment tax all on your own (unless you work with a tax accountant).

You don’t have someone else keeping track of where you do your work, and how much you earn in each location…unless you have a knowledgeable and qualified professional to whom you outsource accounting duties.

And because of this, you have even more work to do when it comes to bookkeeping (which I always say you really shouldn’t be doing on your own anyway).

If you travel to different locations to speak or work with a client on-site, you have another set of data you need to keep track of.

Normally, you have to keep your records straight for yourself regarding who you did work for, how much you invoiced clients, and who has paid (or hasn’t).

As a digital nomad, however, you now need to start tracking where these jobs occurred for tax reporting purposes as well.

Don’t feel bad, though, you’re certainly not alone in this dilemma.

Pro athletes face the same situation–having to report income earned in the cities/states where they “work” throughout the year.

The same goes for public speakers and anyone else who gets paid to do things in different locations.

Just be happy you don’t have to deal with the Jock-Tax on top of what you already have to deal with the way they do 🙂

Digital Nomads And State Taxes

As if just being a digital nomad who may earn income in different states wasn’t causing you enough tax headaches, it gets even worse if you are into the RV lifestyle, moving around frequently.

Having the freedom to earn a living from anywhere (and sometimes everywhere) in the world comes with even more accounting and tax stress.

Not only do you have to track everything that was mentioned above, but digital nomads also have to keep track of how much time they spent in a particular state.

And how much you earn and spend in each state.

Because every U.S. citizen needs to declare a domicile, you can’t just be a digital nomad and travel all over the place earning money to avoid paying taxes.

That causes problems if you happen to be on an extended travel schedule–the way my friend JD Roth was spending a year in an RV traveling across the US & Canada– or if you like to be mobile and move every few months and still earn money along the way.

You need to have a “home state” where you claim residence and figure out when and where you are required to file a state income tax return from your money-making activities along the way.

And the states don’t make it very easy for the digital nomad as each one sets its own rules for when an income tax return is required:

• Some states will make you file a return just for spending one day working there.
• There are states that have a range of 10-60 days before you are required to file a tax return there.
• Some states base the filing requirement for tax purposes on calendar days while others use working days as the guide.

There’s no uniform way to account for your tax liabilities in this type of situation, so being diligent with your record-keeping is mandatory.

One good thing is that you can research each state you plan on making money in and use it to your advantage by planning appropriately.

Another issue to keep in mind when it comes to state income taxes is how each state treats businesses such as sole proprietorships or limited liability companies.

Just because the IRS doesn’t tax these types of business entities separately, each state makes its own rules so please do your due diligence in your travels.

(Possible) Good News About State Taxes For Digital Nomads

There is a bright side to all of this if you happen to itemize deductions on your Federal income tax return…

Damn that stupid disclaimer that pops up in almost every single article I write about tax deductions!

State income taxes might be deductible on your federal tax return!

That means you actually get a little benefit on your 1040 from having to pay taxes to the various states you pay taxes.

Additionally, some states even have credits for paying taxes to other states, so you don’t get double-taxed in those situations.

Others, like Washington D.C., don’t require you to file an individual income tax return if you are a non-resident which is a nice “gift” to digital nomads.

Finally, there are nine states that do not tax earned income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

As long as you only work in those states and have no other kind of income sourced in them you don’t have to worry about filing a state income tax return.

2019 & Beyond Income Tax Update

Starting in 2019, it becomes harder to itemize, because the standard deductions have been increased significantly.

That and state income + real estate tax deduction are capped at $10k which further limits your deduction.

Some people may benefit from having a higher standard deduction but it could also put you in a more difficult situation if you have high state and local (SALT) taxes and lose out on a lot of the formerly deductible expenses.

Digital Nomads Need A Tax Plan

So how do you, as a digital nomad, ensure that you are accounting for your potential state tax liabilities and staying in compliance with all state tax laws?

Proper planning, that’s how!

Aside from having a tax accountant (which is always the best option in my biased opinion), there are a few things you can do to make your life easier:

• Adjust your bookkeeping to track where income is earned. (FYI, I do not recommend QuickBooks Self-Employed)
• Familiarize yourself with the non-resident tax requirements for each state you are scheduled to go to.
• Research the possible reciprocity allowances between states you plan on working in.
• Keep detailed records in case you need to call in a professional so they can see exactly what is going on.
• Never assume anything when it comes to accounting for taxes.
• Have someone you can trust to turn to in case you get in over your head!

If you have an idea of what you will be required to report, you will also have an idea of what you will need to hold back to pay those state taxes when the time comes.

After all, what’s worse than getting hit with a tax bill when you file your returns?

Even though you don’t live in a particular state, you may indeed be required to file a state income tax return in most states any time you earn money while working within their borders.

Wrapping Up

Knowledge is power.

Knowing what your responsibilities are regarding income taxes is a very powerful thing.

While there are a high number of digital nomads–and just people in general–who fail to properly account for and report tax-related info doesn’t mean it’s okay.

That applies doubly to state income taxes when working in multiple places.

It’s much better to spend some time doing your due diligence or paying someone to watch your back than it is to have to face the ugly consequences of failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties plus the interest owed on back taxes.

A great way to keep track of everything is to try a free 30-day trial of QuickBooks Online (plus version only). It’s the only option out there that allows you to easily and quickly track income & expenses for different states. Unlike other programs, you aren’t limited to the number of different “classes” (or departments/segments) and it takes only seconds to set up!

This makes your tax reporting infinitely easier and you’ll spend less time dealing with administrative work and more time doing whatever else you want to do. It’s as if they had digital nomads in mind when they designed these features? If you’re already paying someone to do it, then you’ll save a buttload of money since all it’s going to take is a few clicks!

Your Turn

How do you handle being a location-independent digital nomad when it comes to taxes? Do you have the confidence to do it all yourself or do you have an accountant who takes care of it for you? Were you surprised by any of the rules/facts I mentioned?