What Moving Expenses are Tax Deductible?

Last week, we covered whether or not you are able to deduct moving expenses on your taxes. This week, we’re going to cover the actual expenses that you might be able to deduct. Here’s a list of what moving expenses are tax deductible, as well as those that aren’t.

Moving expenses that are deductible:

• The cost of moving your personal items from one location to another. This includes the cost of moving services or packing services, as well as transporting your car, pets, or any other personal effects to your new home.
• Transportation costs for moving your family from one place to another, including flights, gas for your car (or the standard mileage deduction of 54 cents per mile in 2016). If one member of the family drove the car to the new home while the rest flew, you can deduct both expenses.
• Lodging expenses incurred during a drive or move between homes, though only for one night.
• Any charges or fees related to disconnecting and reconnecting utilities.
• The cost of storing your belongings, but only if it’s necessary due to a gap in the time between moving out of one home and into another one.

Moving expenses that are not deductible:

• Meals during travel to your new home cannot be deducted.
• Costs incurred through buying or selling your home, i.e. closing costs, home staging costs.
• Fees for breaking a lease or lost security deposit, or for signing a new lease.
• Any sightseeing done during a move (i.e. if you drove 100 miles out of the way for tourist purposes, that mileage cannot be deducted).
• Storage fees beyond those required during the move from one place to another (i.e. if you’ve moved into your new home and decided to keep certain belongings in storage indefinitely, you cannot deduct those charges).
• Fees for registering your car or obtaining a new driver’s license in your new home.
• Fees for transferring or cancelling club memberships.