Don’t Forget These Potential Tax Deductions When Moving

Moving can be expensive. There are a number of costs that must be accounted for before hitting the road: Hiring movers, purchasing packing materials, travel costs, gas, pet moving costs and more. Fortunately, many costs can be deducted from your annual taxes.

First, review the specific tax requirements for moving. The IRS requires that the move must be work related and has specific time and distance stimulations. Also, you can only deduct the difference between your employer’s moving allowance and your personal costs. If you meet these requirements, here are some potential moving costs you can deduct:

• Storage units. If your move requires you to store your items before moving into your new home, you can deduct the cost of a storage unit for up to 30 days.
• Traveling costs. These deductibles include the cost of gas, oil, parking fees and highway tolls that are accumulated between traveling from your old home to your new home. The IRS provides a standard mileage rate that is used to calculate these costs. For long distance moves, you can deduct airline tickets, if necessary.
• Moving and packing costs. This includes the costs for a moving company and professional packers, fees to move your vehicles and other relevant (and reasonable) costs.
• Costs to move pets. Yep, Uncle Sam lets you deduct moving costs for your furry friends.
• Fees to connect or disconnect your utilities. At either end of the move, these costs can be deducted (except for cable, as it’s not a necessary utility).

While many essential moving costs can be deducted, certain ones can’t. A few include costs to buy or sell your home, fees for breaking a lease, security deposits, fees for a new driver’s license and more. To learn more about deducting your move, visit IRS.gov.