Form 3903

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service (99) 

Moving Expenses 

▶ Information about Form 3903 and its instructions is available at www.irs.gov/form3903. 

▶ Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040NR. 

OMB No. 1545-0074 

2012

Attachment 

Sequence No. 170 

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 in the instructions, 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 

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see your tax return instructions. Cat. No. 12490K Form 3903 (2012) 
INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Form 3903 (2012) Page 3 

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 www.irs.gov/form3903.

What’s New 

For 2012, the standard mileage rate for using your vehicle to move 

to a new home is 23 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. Also, your move must be closely 

related both in time and place to the start of work at your new job 

location. For more details, see Pub. 521.

TIP

Members of the Armed Forces may not have to meet the 

distance and time tests. See Members of the Armed 

Forces later in the instructions.

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. 

TIP 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. 

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. 
Form 3903 (2012) Page 4 

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 23 cents a mile.

You can add parking fees and tolls to the amount claimed under 

either method.