Who can deduct moving expenses? Tax Talk by George Saenz • Bankrate.com

Dear Tax Talk,
On my last move, I made a destination move to work for someone I had worked with before. To my astonishment, that someone made an arrangement with the employer I was leaving to pay my movers directly. They did this by boosting the cost onto my pay and cut the check to the movers rather than to me.

Do I get to deduct these moving expenses, or do they?
-- Beddow

Dear Beddow,
It appears that someone didn't make all the right moves. The deduction for moving expenses has been greatly curtailed over the last few years. The basic deduction nowadays is for the actual cost of the movers. Your employer can pay all these expenses directly to the movers and not include them in your compensation.

That's why something doesn't make sense in your case.

However, the reason may be that you didn't meet the distance test. In order for the mover's costs to be excluded from your income, you have to meet the distance test, according to the Internal Revenue Service:

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. For example, if your old main job location was three miles from your former home, your new main job location must be at least 53 miles from that former home.

If you meet this test, then you can claim the cost of the movers as a deduction on Form 3903, since the amount was included in your wages. More information is available in IRS Publication 521. Apart from the actual cost of the move and any in-transit storage costs, you can only deduct travel expenses such as airfare, auto expenses and lodging, but not meals. The standard mileage rate for moving expenses is.