rom 3903

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Moving Expenses
P Attach to Form 1040.

OMB No. 1545-0062

1986

Attachment
Sequence No. 62.

Name(s) as shown on Form 1040

Your social security number

a Enter the number of miles from your old residence to your new work place
b Enter the number of miles from your old residence to your old work place .
Subtract line b from line a. Enter the result (but not less than zero) .

If line ¢ is 35 or more miles, complete the rest of this form. If line ¢ is less than 35 miles, you may not take a

expenses. This rule does not apply to members of the armed forces.

>

b
c
deduction for moving

for a new residence after getting your job .

Add lines 3 and 4

Enter the smaller of line 5 or $1,500 ($750 if married, filing a separate return, and,
at the end of the tax year, you lived with your spouse who also started work during

the tax year)
Expenses of (check one):

aL selling or exchanging your old residence; or
oC if renting, settling an unexpired lease on your old residence

Expenses of (check one):
a(J buying your new residence; or

b(1 ifrenting, getting a lease on your new residence .

Add lines 6, 7, and 8
10

Travel, meal, and lodging expenses in moving from old to new residence
Pre-move travel, meal, and lodging expenses in looking

Temporary living expenses in new location or area during
any 30 days in a row after getting your job

Transportation expenses in moving household goods and personal effects

3

4

5

8

9

Enter the smaller of line 9 or $3, 000 1, 500 it married, filinga separate return, ‘and, at the end of the tax

year, you lived with your spouse who also started work during the tax year)

Note: Use any amount on line 7a not deducted because of the $3,000 (or $1, 500) limit to decrease the
gain on the sale of your residence. Use any amount on line 8a not deducted because of the limit to
increase the basis of your new residence. See No Double Benefit in the instructions.

11

Add lines 1, 2, and 10. This is your moving expense deduction. Enter here and on Form 1040, line 24.
(Note: /f your employer paid for any part of your move (including the value of any services furnished in
kind), report that amount on Form 1040, line 7. See Reimbursements in the instructions.) .

10

ae

General Instructions

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice.—We
ask for this information to carry out the
Internal Revenue laws of the United States.
We need it to ensure that taxpayers are
complying with these laws and to allow us to
figure and collect the right amount of tax.
You are required to give us this information.

Purpose of Form.—Use Form 3903 if you
moved to a new principal work place within
the United States or its possessions and you
qualify to deduct your moving expenses.
Note: Use Form 3903F, Foreign Moving
Expenses, instead of this form if you area
U.S. citizen or resident alien who moved to
a new principal work place outside the
United States or its possessions.
Additional Information.—For more
information about moving expenses, please
get Publication 521, Moving Expenses.
Who May Deduct Moving Expenses.—If
you moved your residence because of a
change in the location of your job, you may

be able to deduct your moving expenses.
You may qualify for a deduction whether
you are self-employed or an employee.
However, you must meet certain tests of
distance and time, explained below.

Distance Test.—Your new work place
must be at least 35 miles farther from your
old residence than your old work place was.
For example, if your old work place was 3
miles from your old residence, your new
work place must be at least 38 miles from
that residence. If you did not have an old
work place, your new work place must be at
least 35 miles from your old residence. (The
distance between two points is the shortest
of the more commonly traveled routes
between the points.)

Time Test.—lf you are an employee, you
must work full time for at least 39 weeks
during the 12 months right after you move.
If you are self-employed, you must work full
time 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.

You may deduct your moving expenses
for 1986 even if you have not met the time
test before your 1986 return is due. You
may do this if you expect to meet the 39-
week test by the end of 1987 or the 78-
week test by the end of 1988. If you have
not met the test by then, you will have to do
one of the following:

@ Amend your 1986 tax return on which
you deducted moving expenses. To do this,
use Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual
Income Tax Return; or

@ Report as income on your tax return for
the year you cannot meet the test the
amount you deducted on your 1986 return.

If you do not deduct your moving
expenses on your 1986 return, and you
later meet the time test, you may file an
amended return for 1986, taking the
deduction. To do this, use Form 1040x.

Exceptions to the Distance and Time
Tests.—You do not have to meet the time

Form 3903 1986)


Form 3903 (1986)

Page 2

test in case of death or if your job ends
because of disability, transfer for your
employer's benefit, or layoff or other
discharge besides willful misconduct.

You do not have to meet the time test if
you meet the requirements, explained
below, for retirees or survivors living outside
the United States.

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. In figuring your
moving expenses, do not deduct any moving
expenses for moving services that were
provided by the military or that were
reimbursed to you and that you did not
include in income. However, you may
deduct your unreimbursed moving
expenses, subject to the dollar limits. If you
and your spouse and dependents are moved
to or from different locations, treat the
moves as a single move.

Qualified Retirees or Survivors Living
Outside the United States.—If the
requirements below are met, retirees or
survivors who move to a U.S. residence are
treated as if they moved to a new work
place located in the United States. You are
subject to the dollar limits and distance test
explained on this form. Use this form
instead of Form 3903F to claim your
moving expenses.

Retirees. —You may deduct moving
expenses for a move to a new residence in
the United States when you actually retire,
if both your old principal work place and
your old residence were outside the United
States.

Survivors.—You may deduct moving
expenses for a move to a residence in the
United States if you are the spouse or
dependent of a person whose principal work
place at the time of death was outside the
United States. In addition, the expenses
must be: (1) for a move that begins within 6
months after the decedent's death; and (2)
must be from a former residence outside
the United States that you lived in with the
decedent at the time of death.

Moving Expenses in General.—You may
deduct most, but not all, of the reasonable
expenses you incur in moving your family
and dependent household members. You
may not include moving expenses for
employees such as a servant, governess, or
nurse.

Examples of expenses you MAY deduct
are:

© Travel, meal, and lodging expenses during
the move to the new residence;

@ Temporary living expenses in the new
location; and

@ Pre-move travel expenses.

Examples of expenses you MAY NOT
deduct are:

© Loss on the sale of your residence;
© Mortgage penalties;

© Cost of refitting carpets and draperies;
and
@ Losses on quitting club memberships.

Reimbursements.—You must include any
reimbursement of, or payment for, moving
expenses in gross income as compensation
for services. If your employer paid for any
part of your move, you must report that
amount as income on Form 1040, line 7.
Your employer should include the amount
paid in your total income on Form W-2.
However, if you are not sure that the
reimbursements have been included in your
Form W-2, check with your employer. Your
employer must give you a statement showing
a detailed breakdown of reimbursements or
payments for moving expenses. Your
employer may use Form 4782, Employee
Moving Expense Information, to give you the
required breakdown of reimbursements, or
your employer may use his or her own form.

No Double Benefit.—You may not take
double benefits. For example, you may not
use the moving expenses on line 7 that are
part of your moving expense deduction to
lower the amount of gain on the sale of your
old residence. In addition, you may not use
the moving expenses on line 8 that are part
of your moving expense deduction to add to
the cost of your new residence. (Use Form
2119, Sale or Exchange of Principal
Residence, to figure the gain, if any, you
must report on the sale of your old residence
and the adjusted cost of the new one.)

Dollar Limits. —Lines 1 and 2 (costs of
moving household goods and travel
expenses to your new residence) are not
limited to any amount. All the other
expenses (lines 3, 4, 7, and 8) together may
not be more than $3,000. In addition, line 3
(househunting trip expenses) and line 4
(temporary living expenses) together may
not be more than $1,500. These are overall
per-move limits.

There are some special situations:

© If both you and your spouse began work
at new work places and shared the same
new residence at the end of the tax year,
you must treat this as one move rather than
two. If you file separate returns, each of you
is limited to a total of $1,500 for lines 3, 4,
7, and 8; and to a total of $750 for lines 3
and 4.

© If both you and your spouse began work at
new work places but each of you moved to
separate new residences, this is treated as
two separate moves. If you file a joint return,
lines 3, 4, 7, and 8 are limited to a total of
$6,000; and lines 3 and 4 are limited toa
total of $3,000. If you file separate returns,
each of you is limited to a total of $3,000 for
lines 3, 4, 7, and 8; and toa total of $1,500
for lines 3 and 4.

Line-by-Line Instructions

To see if you meet the distance test,
complete lines a through c at the top of the
form. If line cis at least 35 miles, or you are
a member of the armed forces, continue
with the items that follow.

We have provided specific instructions for
most of the lines on the form. Those lines
that do not appear in these instructions are
self-explanatory.

Line 1.—Enter the actual cost of packing,
crating, moving, storing in transit, and
insuring your household goods and personal
effects.

Line 2.—Enter the costs of travel from your
old residence to your new residence. These
include transportation, meals, and lodging
on the way, including costs for the day you
arrive. You may only include expenses for
one trip. However, all the members of your
household do not have to travel together or
at the same time. If you use your own car,
you may figure the expenses in either of

the following two ways:

© Actual out-of-pocket expenses for gas and
oil (keep records to verify the amounts); or
© At the rate of 9 cents a mile (keep records
to verify your mileage).

You may add parking fees and tolls to the
amount claimed under either method.

Line 3.—Include the costs of travel before
you move in order to look for a new
residence. You may deduct the costs only if:
@ You began the househunting trip after you
got the job;

@ You returned to your old residence after
looking for a new one; and

© You traveled to the general location of the
new work place primarily to look for a new
residence.

There is no limit on the number of
househunting trips made by you and
members of your household that may be
included on this line. Your househunting
does not have to be successful to qualify for
this deduction. If you used your own car,
figure transportation costs the same way as
in the instructions for line 2. If you are self-
employed, you may deduct these
househunting costs only if you had already
made substantial arrangements to begin
work in the new location.

Line 4.—Include the costs of meals and
lodging while occupying temporary quarters
in the area of your new work place. You may
include these costs for any period of 30 days
ina row after you get the job, but before you
move into permanent quarters. If you aré
self-employed, you may count these
temporary living expenses only if you had
already made substantial arrangements to
begin work in the new location.

Lines 7 and 8.—You may include most of
the costs to sell or buy a residence or to
settle or get a lease. Examples of expenses
you MAY include are:

@ Sales commissions;
© Advertising costs;
® Attorney's fees;
@ Title and escrow fees;
© State transfer taxes; and
® Costs to settle an unexpired lease or to
get a new lease.
Examples of expenses you MAY NOT
include are:
e Fosts to improve your residence to help it
sell;
© Charges for payment or prepayment of
interest; and
@ Payments or prepayments of rent.
Check the appropriate box, a or b, for

lines 7 and 8 when you enter the amounts
for these two lines.