taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203434taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203436Standard mileage rate.(p1)
For 2010, the standard mileage rate for using your vehicle to
move to a new home is 16
1/
2 cents a mile. See
Travel by car under
Deductible Moving Expenses.
Change of address.(p1)
If you change your mailing address, be sure to notify the IRS
using Form 8822, Change of Address. Mail it to the Internal Revenue Service
Center for your old address. Addresses for the service centers are on the back
of the form.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203439Photographs of missing children.(p1)
The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children
selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would
otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the
photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a
child.
This publication explains the deduction of certain expenses of
moving to a new home because you changed job locations or started a new job. It
includes the following topics.
- Who can deduct moving expenses.
- What moving expenses are deductible.
- What moving expenses are not deductible.
- How a reimbursement affects your moving expense deduction.
- How and when to report moving expenses.
- Special rules for members of the Armed Forces.
Form 3903, Moving Expenses, is used to claim the moving expense
deduction. An example of how to report your moving expenses, including a
filled-in Form 3903, is shown near the end of the publication.
You may be able to deduct moving expenses whether you are self-employed
or an employee. Your expenses generally must be related to starting work at your
new job location. However, certain retirees and survivors may qualify to claim
the deduction even though they are not starting work at a new job location. See
Who Can Deduct Moving Expenses.
It is important to maintain an accurate record of expenses you paid to move. You
should save items such as receipts, bills, cancelled checks, credit card
statements, and mileage logs. Also, you should save your Form W-2 and statements
of reimbursement from your employer.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000254271We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions
for future editions.
You can write to us at the following address:
Internal Revenue Service
Individual Forms and Publications Branch
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526
Washington, DC 20224
We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would
be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area
code, in your correspondence.
You can email us at
*taxforms@irs.gov. (The asterisk must be included in the address.) Please put
"Publications Comment" on the subject line. You can also send us comments from
www.irs.gov/formspubs/, select "Comment on Tax Forms and Publications" under "Information
about."
Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received,
we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our
tax products.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000254272Visit
www.irs.gov/formspubs/
to download forms and publications, call 1-800-829-3676, or write to the address
below and receive a response within 10 days after your request is received.
Internal Revenue Service
1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway
Bloomington, IL 61705-6613If you have a tax question, check the information available on
IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of
the above addresses.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP3a5488e8Useful items
You may want to see:
Publication 3 Armed Forces' Tax Guide Forms (and Instructions) 1040:
U.S. Individual Income Tax Return 1040X:
Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return 3903:
Moving Expenses 8822:
Change of Address See
How To Get Tax Help,
near the end of this publication, for information about getting the publications
and the forms listed above.
You can deduct your moving expenses if you meet all three of
the following requirements.
- Your move is closely related to the start of work.
- You meet the distance test.
- You meet the time test.
After you have read these rules, you may want to use
Figure B to help you decide if you can deduct your moving expenses.
Different rules may apply if you are a member of the Armed Forces
or a retiree or survivor moving to the United States. These rules are discussed
later in this publication.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203446Your move must be closely related, both in time and in place,
to the start of work at your new job location.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203447You can generally consider moving expenses incurred within 1
year from the date you first reported to work at the new location as closely
related in time to the start of work. It is not necessary that you arrange to
work before moving to a new location, as long as you actually go to work in that
location.
If you do not move within 1 year of the date you begin work,
you ordinarily cannot deduct the expenses unless you can show that circumstances
existed that prevented the move within that time.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203448Your family moved more than a year after you started work at
a new location. You delayed the move for 18 months to allow your child to
complete high school. You can deduct your moving expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203451You can generally consider your move closely related in place
to the start of work if the distance from your new home to the new job location
is not more than the distance from your former home to the new job location. If
your move does not meet this requirement, you may still be able to deduct moving
expenses if you can show that:
- You are required to live at your new home as a condition of
your employment, or
- You will spend less time or money commuting from your new
home to your new job location.
Your home means your main home (residence). It can be a house,
apartment, condominium, houseboat, house trailer, or similar dwelling. It does
not include other homes owned or kept up by you or members of your family. It
also does not include a seasonal home, such as a summer beach cottage. Your
former home means your home before you left for your new job location. Your new
home means your home within the area of your new job location.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203453You may be able to deduct the expenses of moving to the United
States or its possessions even though the move is not related to the start of
work at a new job location. You must have worked outside the United States or be
a survivor of someone who did. See
Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States, later.
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 3 miles from your former home, your new main job location must be at least
53 miles from that former home. You can use
Worksheet 1 to see if you meet this test.
The distance between a job location and your home is the shortest
of the more commonly traveled routes between them. The distance test considers
only the location of your former home. It does not take into account the
location of your new home. See
Figure A, below.
Worksheet 1. Distance Test
| | Note. Members of the Armed Forces may not have to meet this
test. See
Members of the Armed Forces. | | |
| 1. | Enter the number of miles from your old home to your new
workplace | 1. | miles |
| 2. | Enter the number of miles from your old home to your old
workplace | 2. | miles |
| 3. | Subtract line 2 from line 1. If zero or less, enter -0- | 3. | miles |
| 4. | Is line 3 at least 50 miles?
□ Yes. You meet this test.
□ No. You do not meet this test. You cannot deduct
your moving expenses.
|
You moved to a new home less than 50 miles from your former home
because you changed main job locations. Your old main job location was 3 miles
from your former home. Your new main job location is 60 miles from that home.
Because your new main job location is 57 miles farther from your former home
than the distance from your former home to your old main job location, you meet
the distance test.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203457If you go to work full time for the first time, your place of
work must be at least 50 miles from your former home to meet the distance test.
If you go back to full-time work after a substantial period of
part-time work or unemployment, your place of work also must be at least 50
miles from your former home.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203458If you are in the Armed Forces and you moved because of a permanent
change of station, you do not have to meet the distance test. See
Members of the Armed Forces, later.
Your main job location is usually the place where you spend most
of your working time. This could be your office, plant, store, shop, or other
location. If there is no one place where you spend most of your working time,
your main job location is the place where your work is centered, such as where
you report for work or are otherwise required to "base" your work.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203460If you work for several employers on a short-term basis and you
get work under a union hall system (such as a construction or building trades
worker), your main job location is the union hall.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203461If you have more than one job at any time, your main job location
depends on the facts in each case. The more important factors to be considered
are:
- The total time you spend at each place,
- The amount of work you do at each place, and
- How much money you earn at each place.
To deduct your moving expenses, you also must meet one of the
following two time tests.
- The time test for employees.
- The time test for self-employed persons.
Both of these tests are explained below. See
Table 1, below, for a summary of these tests.
You can deduct your moving expenses before you meet either of
the time tests. See
Time Test Not Yet Met, later.
If you are an employee, you must work full time for at least
39 weeks during the first 12 months after you arrive in the general area of your
new job location (39-week test). Full-time employment depends on what is usual
for your type of work in your area.
For purposes of this test, the following four rules apply.
- You count only your full-time work as an employee, not any
work you do as a self-employed person.
- You do not have to work for the same employer for all 39 weeks.
- You do not have to work 39 weeks in a row.
- You must work full time within the same general commuting
area for all 39 weeks.
You are considered to have worked full time during any week you
are temporarily absent from work because of illness, strikes, lockouts, layoffs,
natural disasters, or similar causes. You are also considered to have worked
full time during any week you are absent from work for leave or vacation
provided for in your work contract or agreement.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203465If your work is seasonal, you are considered to be working full
time during the off-season only if your work contract or agreement covers an
off-season period of less than 6 months. For example, a school teacher on a
12-month contract who teaches on a full-time basis for more than 6 months is
considered to have worked full time for the entire 12 months.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203468If you are self-employed, you must work full time for at least
39 weeks during the first 12 months and for a total of at least 78 weeks during
the first 24 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job
location (78-week test).
For purposes of the time test for self-employed persons, the
following three rules apply.
- You count any full-time work you do either as an employee
or as a self-employed person.
- You do not have to work for the same employer or be self-employed
in the same trade or business for the 78 weeks.
- You must work within the same general commuting area for all
78 weeks.
You are self-employed if you work as the sole owner of an unincorporated
business or as a partner in a partnership carrying on a business. You are not
considered self-employed if you are semi-retired, are a part-time student, or
work only a few hours each week.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203470You can count only those weeks during which you work full time
as a week of work. Whether you work full time during any week depends on what is
usual for your type of work in your area. For example, you are a self-employed
dentist and maintain office hours 4 days a week. You are considered to perform
services full time if maintaining office hours 4 days a week is not unusual for
other self-employed dentists in your area.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203577| |
| Table 1. Satisfying the Time Test for Employees and Self-Employed
Persons |
| IF you are... | THEN you satisfy the time test by meeting the... |
|---|
| an employee | 39-week test for employees.
|
| self-employed | 78-week test for self-employed persons.
|
| both self-employed and an employee at the same time | 78-week test for a self-employed person or the 39-week
test for an employee. Your principal place of work
determines which test applies.
|
| both self-employed and an employee, but unable to satisfy
the 39-week test for employees | 78-week test for self-employed persons.
|
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203474You are considered to be self-employed on a full-time basis during
any week you are temporarily absent from work because of illness, strikes,
natural disasters, or similar causes.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203475If your trade or business is seasonal, the off-season weeks when
no work is required or available may be counted as weeks during which you worked
full time. The off-season must be less than 6 months and you must work full time
before and after the off-season.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203476You own and operate a motel at a beach resort. The motel is closed
for 5 months during the off-season. You work full time as the operator of the
motel before and after the off-season. You are considered self-employed on a
full-time basis during the weeks of the off-season.
If you were both an employee and self-employed, see
Table 1,
earlier, for the requirements.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203477Justin quit his job and moved from the east coast to the west
coast to begin a full-time job as a cabinet-maker for C and L Cabinet Shop. He
generally worked at the shop about 40 hours each week. Shortly after the move,
Justin also began operating a cabinet-installation business from his home for
several hours each afternoon and all day on weekends. Because Justin's principal
place of business is the cabinet shop, he can satisfy the time test by meeting
the 39-week test.
If Justin is unable to satisfy the requirements of the 39-week test during the
12-month period immediately following his arrival in the general location of his
new principal place of work, he can satisfy the 78-week test.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203478If you are married, file a joint return, and both you and your
spouse work full-time, either of you can satisfy the full-time work test.
However, you cannot add the weeks your spouse worked to the weeks you worked to
satisfy that test.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203479You can deduct your moving expenses on your 2010 tax return even
though you have not met the time test by the date your 2010 return is due. You
can do this if you expect to meet the 39-week test in 2011 or the 78-week test
in 2011 or 2012.
If you do not deduct your moving expenses on your 2010 return,
and you later meet the time test, you can file an amended return for 2010 to
take the deduction.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203480
If you deduct moving expenses but do not meet the time test in 2011 or 2012, you
must either:
- Report your moving expense deduction as other income on your
Form 1040 for the year you cannot meet the test, or
- Use Form 1040X to amend your 2010 return, figuring your tax
without the moving expense deduction.
You arrive in the general area of your new job location, as an
employee, on September 15, 2010. You deduct your moving expenses on your 2010
return, the year of the move, even though you have not yet met the time test by
the date your return is due. If you do not meet the 39-week test during the
12-month period following your arrival in the general area of your new job
location, you must either:
- Report your moving expense deduction as other income on your
Form 1040 for 2011, or
- Use Form 1040X to amend your 2010 return, figuring your tax
without the moving expense deduction.
You do not have to meet the time test if one of the following
applies.
- You are in the Armed Forces and you moved because of a permanent
change of station. See
Members of the Armed Forces, later.
- Your main job location was outside the United States and you
moved to the United States because you retired. See
Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States, later.
- You are the survivor of a person whose main job location at
the time of death was outside the United States. See
Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States, later.
- Your job at the new location ends because of death or disability.
- You are transferred for your employer's benefit or laid off
for a reason other than willful misconduct. For this exception, you must have
obtained full-time employment and you must have expected to meet the test at the
time you started the job.
If you are a retiree who was working abroad or a survivor of
a decedent who was working abroad and you move to the United States or one of
its possessions, you do not have to meet the time test, discussed earlier.
However, you must meet the requirements discussed below under
Retirees who were working abroad or
Survivors of decedents who were working abroad.
 | If you are living in the United States, retire, and then
move and remain retired, you cannot claim a moving expense deduction for that
move. |
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203485For this section of this publication, the term "United States"
includes the possessions of the United States.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203486You can deduct moving expenses for a move to a new home in the
United States when you permanently retire. However, both your former main job
location and your former home must have been outside the United States.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203487You are considered permanently retired when you cease gainful
full-time employment or self-employment. If, at the time you retire, you intend
your retirement to be permanent, you will be considered retired even though you
later return to work. Your intention to retire permanently may be determined by:
- Your age and health,
- The customary retirement age for people who do similar work,
- Whether you receive retirement payments from a pension or
retirement fund, and
- The length of time before you return to full-time work.
Qualified deductible moving expenses are allowed on a final return
(Form 1040 or 1040NR) when a taxpayer has moved and dies within the same
calendar year. The personal representative filing on behalf of that taxpayer
should complete and attach Form 3903 to the final return.
A personal representative can be an executor, administrator,
or anyone who is in charge of the deceased person's property. For more
information, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.
taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#en_us_publink1000203489If you are the spouse or the dependent of a person whose main
job location at the time of death was outside the United States, you can deduct
moving expenses if the following five requirements are met.
- The move is to a home in the United States.
- The move begins within 6 months after the decedent's death.
(When a move begins is described below.)
- The move is from the decedent's former home.
- The decedent's former home was outside the United States.
- The decedent's former home was also your home.
A move begins when one of the following events occurs.
- You contract for your household goods and personal effects
to be moved to your home in the United States, but only if the move is completed
within a reasonable time.
- Your household goods and personal effects are packed and on
the way to your home in the United States.
- You leave your former home to travel to your new home in the
United States.
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