3903 Instr

2020

Instructions for Form 3903

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Moving Expenses
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

General Instructions
Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to Form 3903
and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were
published, go to IRS.gov/Form3903.

What’s New
Standard mileage rate. For 2020, the standard mileage rate for
using your vehicle to move to a new home is 17 cents a mile.
New checkbox. A new checkbox was added to certify that you
meet the requirements to claim moving expenses. See Specific
Instructions, later, for how to report this deduction.

Reminder
Moving expense deduction eliminated, except for certain
Armed Forces members. For tax years beginning after 2017, you
can no longer deduct moving expenses unless you are a member of
the Armed Forces on active duty and, due to a military order, you
move because of a permanent change of station.

Purpose of Form

Use Form 3903 to figure your moving expense deduction if you are a
member of the Armed Forces on active duty and, due to a military
order, you move because of a permanent change of station.
A permanent change of station includes:

• A move from your home to your first post of active duty,
• A move from one permanent post of duty to another permanent

post of duty, and
• A move from your last post of duty to your home or to a nearer
point in the United States. The move must occur within 1 year of
ending your active duty or within the period allowed under the Joint
Travel Regulations.
If you qualify to deduct expenses for more than one move, use a
separate Form 3903 for each move.
Spouse and dependents. If you are the spouse or dependent of a
member of the Armed Forces who deserts, is imprisoned, or dies, a
permanent change of station for you includes a move to:
• The member's place of enlistment or induction;
• Your, or the member's, home of record; or
• A nearer point in the United States.
If the military moves you to or from separate locations, the moves
are treated as a single move to your new main job location.
Services or reimbursements provided by government. Don't
include in income the value of moving and storage services provided
by the government because of a permanent change of station.
Similarly, don't include in income amounts received as a dislocation
allowance, temporary lodging expense, temporary lodging
allowance, or move-in housing allowance.
Generally, if the total reimbursements or allowances that you
receive from the government because of the move are more than
your actual moving expenses, the government must include the
excess in your wages on Form W-2. However, if any
reimbursements or allowances (other than dislocation allowances,
Sep 02, 2020

temporary lodging expenses, temporary lodging allowances, or
move-in housing allowances) exceed the cost of moving and the
excess isn't included in your wages on Form W-2, the excess still
must be included in gross income on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 1,
or Form 1040-NR, line 1a.
If your reimbursements or allowances are less than your actual
moving expenses, don't include the reimbursements or allowances
in income. You can deduct the expenses that are more than your
reimbursements in the year you paid or incurred the expenses.
If you must relocate and your spouse and dependents move to or
from a different location, don't include in income reimbursements,
allowances, or the value of moving and storage services provided by
the government to move you and your spouse and dependents to
and from the separate locations.
Estimated tax. If you must make estimated tax payments, you
need to take into account any taxable reimbursements and
deductible moving expenses in figuring your estimated tax. For
details about estimated taxes, see Pub. 505, Tax Withholding and
Estimated Tax.

Which Moving Expenses Are Deductible and
Which Aren't
How much of my moving expenses can I deduct? If you move
because of a permanent change of station, you can deduct the
reasonable unreimbursed expenses of moving you and members of
your household. See Specific Instructions, later, for how to report
this deduction.
A member of your household is anyone who has both your former
home and your new home as his or her main home. It doesn't
include a tenant or employee unless you can claim that person as a
dependent on your tax return.
Which moving expenses can I deduct? You can deduct
expenses (if not reimbursed or furnished in kind) for:
• Moving household goods and personal effects, and
• Travel.
Moving household goods and personal effects. You can deduct
the expenses of moving your household goods and personal effects,
including expenses for hauling a trailer, packing, crating, in-transit
storage, and insurance. You can't deduct expenses for moving
furniture or other goods you bought on the way from your old home
to your new home.
Storing and insuring household goods and personal effects.
You can include only the cost of storing and insuring your household
goods and personal effects within any period of 30 consecutive days
after the day these goods and effects are moved from your former
home and before they are delivered to your new home.
Travel. You can deduct the expenses of traveling (including lodging
within certain limitations, but not meals) from your old home to your
new home, including car expenses and air fare. You can deduct as
car expenses either:
• Your actual out-of-pocket expenses such as the amount you pay
for gas and oil for your car, if you keep an accurate record of each
expense; or
• The standard mileage rate of 17 cents a mile.
You can add parking fees and tolls to the amount claimed under
either method. You can't deduct any part of general repairs, general
maintenance, insurance, or depreciation for your car. You can't
deduct any expenses for meals. You can't deduct the cost of
unnecessary side trips or lavish and extravagant lodging.

Cat. No. 64324D

Line 1

Moving services and allowances provided by the government.
Don't deduct any expenses for moving services that were provided
by the government. Also, don't deduct any expenses that were
reimbursed by an allowance you didn't include in income.

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.

Nondeductible expenses. You can't deduct the following items as
moving expenses.
• Any part of the purchase price of your new home.
• Car tags.
• Driver's license.
• Expenses of buying or selling a home (including closing costs,
mortgage fees, and points).
• Expenses of entering into or breaking a lease.
• Home improvements to help sell your home.
• Loss on the sale of your home.
• Losses from disposing of memberships in clubs.
• Mortgage penalties.
• Real estate taxes.
• Refitting of carpet and draperies.
• Return trips to your former residence.
• Security deposits (including any given up due to the move).
• Storage charges except those incurred in transit and for foreign
moves.

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.
• Any amount the government paid for the storage fees is included
in box 1 of your Form W-2 (wages).
Instead, enter the storage fees on Schedule 1 (Form 1040),
line 13, and write “Storage” on the dotted line next to line 13.
Complete line 1 of the form using your actual expenses. Don't
include any expenses for moving services provided by the
government. Also, don't include any expenses that were reimbursed
by an allowance you don't have to include in your income.

Foreign Moves

A foreign move is a move from the United States or its possessions
to a foreign country or from one foreign country to another foreign
country. A move from a foreign country to the United States or its
possessions isn't a foreign move. For a foreign move, the deductible
moving expenses described earlier are expanded to include the
reasonable expenses of the following.

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 house hunting
expenses.

• Moving your household goods and personal effects to and from

storage.
• Storing these items for part or all of the time the new job location
remains your main job location. The new job location must be
outside the United States.

Filers of Form 2555

If you use your own vehicle(s), you can figure the expenses by
using either:

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 or 1040-SR.
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.

• Actual out-of-pocket expenses for gas and oil, or
• Mileage at the rate of 17 cents a mile.
You can add parking fees and tolls to the amount claimed under
either method.
Complete line 2 of the form using your actual expenses. Don't
include any expenses for moving services provided by the
government. Also, don't include any expenses that were reimbursed
by an allowance you don't have to include in your income.

Specific Instructions

Line 4

You can deduct moving expenses only if you are a member of the
Armed Forces on active duty and, due to a military order, you, your
spouse, or your dependents move because of a permanent change
of station.

Enter the total reimbursements and allowances you received from
the government for the expenses you claimed on lines 1 and 2. Do
not include the value of moving or storage services provided by the
government. Also, don't include any part of a dislocation allowance,
a temporary lodging allowance, a temporary lodging expense, or a
move-in housing allowance. This excluded amount should be
identified on Form W-2, box 12, with code P.

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.

!

Check the box to certify that you meet the requirements to
claim moving expenses.

Line 5

CAUTION

If line 3 is more than line 4, subtract line 4 from line 3, and enter the
result on line 5 and on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 13. This is your
moving expense deduction. If line 3 is equal to or less than line 4,
you don't have a moving expense deduction. Subtract line 3 from
line 4 and, if the result is more than zero, enter it on Form 1040 or
1040-SR, line 1, or Form 1040-NR, line 1a.

If the military moves you, your spouse, and dependents to or from
different locations, treat these moves as a single move.

!

Don't deduct any expenses for moving or storage services
provided by the government.

CAUTION

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