# Tax advice: Fscking relocation expenses deductions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495 "2008-04-15T21:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/1 "2008-04-15T21:04:18Z")
_Disclaimer acknowledgment_I know anyone answering or the Dope cannot be considered anything that even remotely resembles a tax professional, and can not be held responsible for my procrastinating ass, or if I fall into a hole and die if I choose to follow any advice given here._/Disclaimer acknowledgment_ I relocated from GA to CA in 2007, and the instructions for deducting relocation expenses that I received from the Relocation company used by my employer, combined with the instructions provided by the federal government make absolutely no fscking sense to me. I’m waiting for an “informational booklet” to be emailed to me on the subject, but I figure I might get a nudge in the right direction here too. My biggest problems… A moving company was hired and paid for “on my behalf” by my employer. According to my relocation company, that money was not included in my W2 as income, and is considered “qualified” or “excludable”. Can I deduct it if it wasn’t included in my W2? Can I deduct any of the expenses listed by the relocation company as “Non-Qualified (Taxable) Moving Expenses”? Perhaps I should keep things more general… Can I potentially deduct payments made both to me, and to third parties “on my behalf”, or just one of the two? If just one, which one? Can I potentially deduct expenses that are both "Qualified (Excludable) and “Non-Qualified (Taxable)”, or just one of the two? If just one, which one? I’m using TurboTax, but now they’re showing me as getting a refund that is significantly larger than the one I had calculated myself (based largely on how I’m filling in these relocation deduction sections) and as I’m not used to getting refunds at all, I’m assuming that I’m fsking things up. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/2 "2008-04-15T21:28:05Z")
I am NOT a CPA or tax professional. From what you describe, I don’t think you should be filling out anything regarding these moving expenses. If the company picked up the tab, then you had no “expenses” - and are therefore, not entitled to any deduction. If you had paid the moving company, then you would have incurred the expense, and you could claim the deduction. But since the company picked up the tab, to you it is like a “gift” - you didn’t have any “expense”. (Now if there were expenses involved with the move, like hotel, rental car, meals during transit, then you can claim these expenses). ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/3 "2008-04-15T22:21:43Z")
Yeah, that was my initial hunch as well, but the more I read, the more I was led to believe that I could deduct something, somewhere. There were travel expenses that I was reimbursed for, and “tax assistance” and lump sums and whatnot. I’ve decided to file an extension and take the headache to H&R just to make sure. Even without the particular deductions in question, by all of my calculations and estimates I’m due refunds from the Feds and from GA and CA as well. So I don’t have to send any payments today. The professionals can figure out exactly how much I’m getting back from whom. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/4 "2008-04-16T00:32:54Z")
I relocated from San Jose to San Diego in '96 as a result of company downsizing. The company paid all my moving expenses, plus a $6,000 lump sum. I didn’t have to pay taxes on any of it. I relocated from San Diego back to San Jose in '06, this time for a new job. I deducted every single penny of my moving expenses, including meals en route. Uncle Sam didn’t bat an eye. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/5 "2008-04-16T00:38:36Z")
You can only deduct what wasn’t re-imbursed. (Unless said re-imbursement was taxed on the W2, which it wasn’t here). There very well could be expenses not re-imbursed, however. I suggest a good Enrolled Agent, not H&R. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/6 "2008-04-16T01:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] You can only deduct what wasn’t re-imbursed. (Unless said re-imbursement was taxed on the W2, which it wasn’t here). There very well could be expenses not re-imbursed, however. I suggest a good Enrolled Agent, not H&R. [/QUOTE] There were areas of the “relocation cloud” (as I’m now referring to it), that were included on my W2s, that I am being taxed for. The relocation service seems to have broken down the cloud in various ways _except_ ways that make it easy to determine how much of the total cloud is included on my W2s, and how much of that amount is potentially deductable. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/7 "2008-04-16T01:04:45Z")
Yea…I am not an expert by any criteria… However, it looks like you’re dangerously close to the ‘then you should pay tax on it like it was income’ logic. I don’t think you have any way to win here. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tax-advice-fscking-relocation-expenses-deductions/445495/8 "2008-04-16T01:32:44Z")
I’ve gone through this as one who moved and as one who maintained records on behalf of relocated employees. IANAExpert or anything, though, and it’s been a few years. Your description confuses me – WHAT, exactly, did your employer pay this relocation company to do for you? Why would you deduct any kind of expense that you didn’t actually, personally, incur? If the company paid it on your behalf (either by paying a vendor, OR by reimbursing you), then THEY are categorizing it as a business expense. I don’t think you’re ever allowed to deduct a reimbursed expense, because you’re not out the money. OTOH, why would your employer pay this company to do things for you that your employer couldn’t categorize as a typical business expense? It seems like that would be discussed in advance - at least, the people I worked for were persnickety about that kind of thing. If your employer can’t categorize an item as a legitimate moving expense (because it falls outside the IRS definition of what’s allowed) and therefore has to call it an “employee benefit” and you have to report it as “income”, then does it make sense that YOU are allowed to deduct it as a legitimate moving expense? I don’t _think_ the IRS has one set of rules for companies and another for individuals, but I could be wrong. If you’re actually talking about house purchasing or closing costs, rather than the move, then I have no clue, I stayed away from those transactions. The basics of what’s allowable are right here: > [@IRS](#): > > - You cannot deduct any expenses for meals. > > - You can deduct only those expenses that are reasonable for the circumstances of your move. For example, the cost of traveling from your former home to your new one should be by the shortest, most direct route available by conventional transportation. > > - Whether you use actual expenses or the standard mileage rate to figure your expenses, you can deduct the parking fees and tolls you pay to move. > > - You can deduct moving expenses you pay for yourself and members of your household. A member of your household is anyone who has both your former and new home as his or her home. > > - You can deduct the cost of packing, crating, and transporting your household goods and personal effects and those of the members of your household from your former home to your new home. > > - You can deduct any costs of connecting or disconnecting utilities required because you are moving your household goods, appliances, or personal effects. > > - You can deduct the cost of shipping your car and your household pets to your new home. > > - You can deduct the cost of moving your household goods and personal effects from a place other than your former home. Your deduction is limited to the amount it would have cost to move them from your former home. > > - You cannot deduct the cost of moving furniture you buy on the way to your new home. > > - You can include the cost of storing and insuring household goods and personal effects within any period of 30 consecutive days after the day your things are moved from your former home and before they are delivered to your new home. > > - You can deduct the cost of transportation and lodging for yourself and members of your household while traveling from your former home to your new home. This includes expenses for the day you arrive. > > - You can include any lodging expenses you had in the area of your former home within one day after you could no longer live in your former home because your furniture had been moved. eta - I see a cloud. Your HR people may well know enough to help you - at least they can explain why THEY didn’t deduct those expenses. I’d bet you’re in “it’s income, pay up” territory, too.