Form 3903 Moving Expenses

Form

3903

OMB No. 1545-0074

Moving Expenses

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service (99)

©

2009

Attachment
Sequence No. 62

Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040NR.

Your social security number

Name(s) shown on return

Before you begin:

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2

✓ See the Distance Test and Time Test in the instructions to find out if you can deduct your moving
expenses.
✓ See Members of the Armed Forces on the back, if applicable.

Transportation and storage of household goods and personal effects (see instructions) . . .
Travel (including lodging) from your old home to your new home (see instructions). Do not
include the cost of meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3

Add lines 1 and 2

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4

Enter the total amount your employer paid you for the expenses listed on lines 1 and 2 that is
not included in box 1 of your Form W-2 (wages). This amount should be shown in box 12 of your
Form W-2 with code P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Is line 3 more than line 4?
No.

You cannot deduct your moving expenses. If line 3 is less than line 4, subtract line 3
from line 4 and include the result on Form 1040, line 7, or Form 1040NR, line 8.

Yes. Subtract line 4 from line 3. Enter the result here and on Form 1040, line 26, or Form
1040NR, line 26. This is your moving expense deduction . . . . . . . . .

General Instructions
What’s New
For 2009, the standard mileage rate for
using your vehicle to move to a new home
is 24 cents a mile.

Purpose of Form
Use Form 3903 to figure your moving
expense deduction for a move related to
the start of work at a new principal place
of work (workplace). If the new workplace
is outside the United States or its
possessions, you must be a U.S. citizen or
resident alien to deduct your expenses.
If you qualify to deduct expenses for
more than one move, use a separate Form
3903 for each move.
For more details, see Pub. 521, Moving
Expenses.

Moving Expenses You Can
Deduct

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Members of the Armed Forces
may not have to meet the
distance and time tests. See
instructions on the back.

You can deduct the reasonable expenses
of moving your household goods and
personal effects and of traveling from your
old home to your new home. Reasonable
expenses can include the cost of lodging
(but not meals) while traveling to your new
home. You cannot deduct the cost of
sightseeing trips.

Distance Test
Your new principal workplace must be at
least 50 miles farther from your old home
than your old workplace was. For example,
if your old workplace was 3 miles from your
old home, your new workplace must be at
least 53 miles from that home. If you did
not have an old workplace, your new
workplace must be at least 50 miles from
your old home. The distance between the
two points is the shortest of the more
commonly traveled routes between them.
To see if you meet the
distance test, you can
use the worksheet
below.

Who Can Deduct Moving
Expenses
If you move to a new home because of a
new principal workplace, you may be able
to deduct your moving expenses whether
you are self-employed or an employee. But
you must meet both the distance and time
tests that follow.

Distance Test Worksheet

Keep a Copy for Your Records

1. Number of miles from your old home to your new workplace

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1.

miles

2. Number of miles from your old home to your old workplace .

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miles

3. Subtract line 2 from line 1. If zero or less, enter -0-

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miles

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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. Do not complete Form 3903.
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form.

Cat. No. 12490K

Form

3903

(2009)

Form 3903 (2009)

Time Test
If you are an employee, you must work full
time in the general area of your new
workplace for at least 39 weeks during the
12 months right after you move. If you are
self-employed, you must work full time in
the general area of your new workplace for
at least 39 weeks during the first 12
months and a total of at least 78 weeks
during the 24 months right after you move.
What if you do not meet the time test
before your return is due? If you expect
to meet the time test, you can deduct your
moving expenses in the year you move.
Later, if you do not meet the time test, you
must either:
● Amend your tax return for the year you
claimed the deduction by filing Form
1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income
Tax Return, or
● For the year you cannot meet the time
test, report as income the amount of your
moving expense deduction that reduced
your income tax for the year you moved.
If you did not deduct your moving
expenses in the year you moved and you
later meet the time test, you can take the
deduction by filing an amended return for
the year you moved. To do this, use Form
1040X.
Exceptions to the time test. You do not
have to meet the time test if any of the
following apply.
● Your job ends because of disability.
● You are transferred for your employer’s
benefit.
● You are laid off or discharged for a
reason other than willful misconduct.
● You are in the Armed Forces and the
move is due to a permanent change of
station (see below).
● You meet the requirements (explained
later) for retirees or survivors living outside
the United States.
● You are filing this form for a decedent.

Members of the Armed
Forces
If you are in the Armed Forces, you do not
have to meet the distance and time tests if
the move is due to a permanent change of
station. A permanent change of station
includes a move in connection with and
within 1 year of retirement or other
termination of active duty.

How To Complete This Form If
You Are In the Armed Forces
Do not include on lines 1 and 2 any
expenses for moving or storage services
that were provided by the government. If
you and your spouse and dependents are
moved to or from different locations, treat
the moves as a single move.
On line 4, enter the total reimbursements
and allowances you received from the
government in connection with the
expenses you claimed on lines 1 and 2. Do
not include the value of moving or storage
services provided by the government.
Complete line 5 if applicable.

Page

Retirees or Survivors Living
Outside the United States
If you are a retiree or survivor who moved
to a home in the United States or its
possessions and you meet the following
requirements, you are treated as if you
moved to a new principal workplace
located in the United States. You are
subject only to the distance test.

Retirees
You can deduct moving expenses for a
move to a new home in the United States
when you permanently retire if both your
old principal workplace and your old home
were outside the United States.

Survivors
You can deduct moving expenses for a
move to a home in the United States if you
are the spouse or dependent of a person
whose principal workplace at the time of
his or her death was outside the United
States. The expenses must be for a move
(a) that begins within 6 months after the
decedent’s death, and (b) from a former
home outside the United States that you
lived in with the decedent at the time of his
or her death.

Reimbursements
You can choose to deduct moving
expenses in the year you are reimbursed
by your employer, even though you paid
the expenses in a different year. However,
special rules apply. See When To Deduct
Expenses in Pub. 521.

Filers of Form 2555
If you file Form 2555, Foreign Earned
Income, to exclude any of your income or
housing costs, report the full amount of
your deductible moving expenses on Form
3903 and on Form 1040. Report the part of
your moving expenses that is not allowed
because it is allocable to the excluded
income on the appropriate line of Form
2555. For details on how to figure the part
allocable to the excluded income, see Pub.
54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and
Resident Aliens Abroad.

Specific Instructions
You can deduct the following expenses
you paid to move your family and
dependent household members. Do not
deduct expenses for employees such as a
maid, nanny, or nurse.

Line 1
Moves within or to the United States or
its possessions. Enter the amount you
paid to pack, crate, and move your
household goods and personal effects.
You can also include the amount you paid
to store and insure household goods and
personal effects within any period of 30
days in a row after the items were moved
from your old home and before they were
delivered to your new home.

2

Moves outside the United States or its
possessions. Enter the amount you paid
to pack, crate, move, store, and insure
your household goods and personal
effects. Also, include the amount you paid
to move your personal effects to and from
storage and to store them for all or part of
the time the new workplace continues to
be your principal workplace.
Storage fees. Do not file Form 3903 if all
of the following apply:
● You moved in an earlier year,
● You are claiming only storage fees
during your absence from the United
States, and
● Any amount your employer paid for the
storage fees is included in box 1 of your
Form W-2 (wages).
Instead, enter the storage fees on Form
1040, line 26, or Form 1040NR, line 26,
and write “Storage” on the dotted line next
to line 26.

Line 2
Enter the amount you paid to travel from
your old home to your new home. This
includes transportation and lodging on the
way. Include costs for the day you arrive.
The members of your household do not
have to travel together or at the same time.
But you can only include expenses for one
trip per person. Do not include any
househunting expenses.
If you use your own vehicle(s), you can
figure the expenses by using either:
● Actual out-of-pocket expenses for gas
and oil, or
● Mileage at the rate of 24 cents a mile.
You can add parking fees and tolls to
the amount claimed under either method.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We
ask for the information on this form to
carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the
United States. You are required to give us
the information. We need it to ensure that
you are complying with these laws and to
allow us to figure and collect the right
amount of tax.
You are not required to provide the
information requested on a form that is
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB
control number. Books or records relating
to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may
become material in the administration of
any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are
confidential, as required by Internal
Revenue Code section 6103.
The average time and expenses required
to complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances.
For the estimated averages, see the
instructions for your income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this
form simpler, we would be happy to hear
from you. See the instructions for your
income tax return.