Is Your Move Tax-Deductible?

If you were recently forced to move due to career-related reasons, there’s a chance that you’re eligible to deduct your move expenses from your taxes. One of the lesser-known facts within the moving industry, for a move to qualify as tax-deductible it must first satisfy two conditions.

Use this is determine if the costs of your move are tax-deductible.

The distance test

The first condition is the distance test. In order to qualify for a tax-deduction, you must have moved a distance of over 50 miles. It doesn’t matter whether you move 50 miles down the road or 2,000 miles across the country, so long as it’s a distance beyond 50 miles.

The time test

If your move satisfied the distance requirement, the only condition left is the time test. If you are moving as an employee, you must work full-time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months in your new home. If you are self-employed, you must work 39 weeks out of your first 12 months, and 78 weeks during your first 24 months to qualify.

Exceptions to the distance and time tests

• Your move may still qualify as a tax-deduction if it fails either one of tests in the case of death, disability or involuntary separation, among other things.
• If you are a member of the armed forces and your move was due to a permanent change of station then you do not have to satisfy the distance requirement.

If you think your move might qualify, check out the IRS’s publication regarding deducting move expenses.