TaxHomeBase uses a 100-point weighted audit readiness score to evaluate how prepared you are for an IRS review of your tax-free stipends. Each criterion is weighted by its IRS importance — items that matter most to the IRS count the most. The score appears in three places: the Dashboard, the Tax Estimate page, and the Export page.
The numeric score (e.g., “82/100”) is visible on the free plan. The detailed breakdown showing which criteria pass or fail requires Pro.
Scoring Criteria
Core Tax Home Criteria (9 checks, 74 points)
| Criterion | Weight | Passes When |
|---|
| Tax home declared | 15 | Tax home record exists |
| Rent paid | 12 | Tax home has a non-zero rent amount |
| Recent visit | 10 | Last tax home visit within 30 days |
| Property not rented out | 8 | Tax home property is not rented to tenants |
| 12-month rule | 8 | No location exceeds 12-month cumulative limit |
| Voter registration | 6 | Voter registration confirmed at tax home |
| Driver’s license | 6 | DL state matches tax home state |
| Active assignment | 5 | At least one active assignment exists |
| Distance compliant | 4 | Assignment is far enough from tax home (~50mi) |
Documentation Criteria (4 checks, 26 points)
| Criterion | Weight | Passes When |
|---|
| Tax home costs | 7 | At least one cost record exists |
| Expenses tracked | 7 | At least one expense recorded |
| GSA compliance | 6 | All assignment stipends within GSA limits |
| Mileage logged | 6 | At least one mileage trip recorded |
Why Weighted?
Not all criteria are equal in the eyes of the IRS. A nurse without a declared tax home faces a much bigger risk than one missing a single mileage log. The weights reflect this — declaring your tax home is worth 15 points, while logging mileage is worth 6. This means a nurse with no tax home sees “25/100” instead of “11/13” — the urgency gap is much larger and more accurately reflects the actual risk.
Conditional Auto-Pass
Items that don’t apply to your situation pass automatically:
- No assignments → active assignment, 12-month rule, and distance check auto-pass
- No tax home → rent, visit, voter reg, DL, and property status auto-pass
This prevents new users from seeing a failing score before they’ve set anything up.
Where the Score Appears
Dashboard
The Stipend Protection Banner shows “X/100 points” with a status indicator:
- “Audit ready” — all core criteria passing
- “Action needed” — one or more criteria failing
Tax Estimate
The Audit Readiness section (collapsible) shows all 13 criteria with pass/fail indicators and expandable detail.
Export
The Audit Defense Checklist card shows a progress ring with the score and individual checklist items.
How It’s Computed
The score is computed by alertService.js (server) and mirrored in auditReadiness.js (client) — both use identical WEIGHTS constants. The function takes user data (tax home, assignments, documents, expenses, mileage, costs) and returns the score (percentage), count (weighted points earned), total (100), and per-criterion results.
Improving Your Score
Each failing criterion has a clear fix:
| Criterion | How to Fix |
|---|
| Tax home declared | Set up your tax home on the Tax Home page |
| Rent paid | Enter your monthly rent amount |
| Recent visit | Log a tax home visit (must be within 30 days) |
| Voter registration | Confirm voter registration at your tax home address |
| Driver’s license | Set your DL state to match your tax home state |
| Property not rented out | Mark your property as not rented to tenants |
| 12-month rule | Avoid staying at one location for more than 12 months |
| Distance compliant | Ensure assignments are far enough from your tax home |
| Tax home costs | Record at least one tax home cost (rent, utilities, etc.) |
| GSA compliance | Verify stipends don’t exceed GSA per diem limits |
| Expenses tracked | Log at least one work-related expense |
| Mileage logged | Record at least one mileage trip |
