Form 3903 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service (99) 

Moving Expenses 

© Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040NR. 

OMB No. 1545-0074 

2009

Attachment 

Sequence No. 62 

Name(s) shown on return Your social security number 

Before you begin: ✓ 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. 

1 Transportation and storage of household goods and personal effects (see instructions) . . . 1 

2 Travel (including lodging) from your old home to your new home (see instructions). Do not

include the cost of meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

3 Add lines 1 and 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

5 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 . . . . . . . . . 5 

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 

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.

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. 

Members of the Armed Forces 

may not have to meet the 

distance and time tests. See 

instructions on the back.

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. 

Distance Test Worksheet Keep a Copy for Your Records 

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

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

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

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) Page 2 

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. 

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. 

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.