The eyes of some travel nurses get big and eager when they hear the words “completion bonus.” But before we all start raving about the fact that it’s extra money, let’s look into a few things.

Completion bonuses are considered by the IRS to be ‘non-earned income’. You know you earned that money, but the way the government sees it is that money is not represented by actual hours worked. So what happens? The government taxes your completion bonus at a higher rate - robbing you of your hard-earned travel nurse dollars.

Travel nurse staffing agencies who pay completion bonuses are simply holding money you should be earning during the course of your assignment. There’s absolutely no reason why you should a) have to wait until the end of your asignment for this money, and b) pay higher taxes on it - regardless of how far you are from your tax home. If an agency is offering a completion bonus, negotiate to have some, or all, of the bonus worked into your pay. If they won’t play ball and negotiate with you, walk away. There are enough agencies in this world. Don’t get suckered into the false promises and hidden dangers of completion bonuses.