 Deducting
moving expenses
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 Dear
Tax Talk,
I have to move from Miami to West Palm Beach to be closer to my
job since my employer relocated. Are my moving expenses deductible?
-- Mandy
 Dear
Mandy,
You can deduct your moving expenses if you meet all three of the
following requirements:
1. Your move is closely related to the start of work.
2. You meet the distance test.
3. You meet the time test.
Your move must be closely related, both in time and
in place, to the start of work at your new job location. Generally
a move within one year of a change in job location is considered
closely related in time. A move is closely related in place if the
distance from your new home to your new job location is closer than
from your old home to your new place of work. If you move from Miami
to West Palm Beach, you definitely satisfy this test. If you move
to a place that is farther than Miami is to West Palm, but could
show that your commute time is less (i.e., due to less traffic),
you would still qualify.
Your move will meet the distance test if your new
main job location is at least 50 miles farther from your former
home than your old main job location was from your former home.
The distance test considers only the home you're moving out of;
it doesn't matter where the new home is. For example, if you commuted
25 miles from your old home to your old job location, the new location
has to be more than 75 miles from the home you're moving out of.
This distance test has been around for as long as I can remember,
and I can remember that there used to be less congestion on the
streets than there is today (oh yeah, and gas was cheaper). However,
until Congress changes the law, distance is the test and not time.
The time test has to do with time worked at the new
place and nothing to do with commuting time. For the move to be
deductible, you have to work full time in your new job location
for 39 weeks in the year following the move if you're an employee.
If you meet the requirements for deducting the move,
you can deduct the reasonable expenses of:
- Moving your household goods and personal effects
(including in-transit storage expenses, packing and crating).
- Travel costs (including lodging but not meals)
to your new home.
Use Form
3903 to report your moving expenses.
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