How to Make Uncle Sam Pay for Your Moving Costs

If you are moving to Atlanta for a change in career, new branch location for your current employer, or because you plan on starting your own business, you may want to read local Atlanta moving company All My Sons’ information on how to get Uncle Sam to fund your move.

According to the IRS, you can only use moving as a tax write-off if you meet all of the following criteria:

If you are going to use your move to Atlanta as a tax write-off, it MUST meet a reasonable requirement of TIME. Meaning, you can only use “moving for a job” as a tax write-off if it was within one year of your first reported day of work. If you move to a new area and start working, but forget to use it on your immediate tax return, you cannot use it on the following year, since your one year time frame will have expired. It is important to note that you do not have to be moving for a job and have a job already in line, as long as within a year of moving to a new town, city, or state, you start working in the surrounding area, which brings us to distance.

The second measure to the TIME test is the 39-week test. In order to pass the 39-week test, you must be working full-time for 39 weeks in a row, during the first 12 months after you move. This does not include being self-employed, you do not have to be working with the same employer for the 39-week duration, and you must stay within the same commuting area.

Another requirement that you must fulfill in order to claim your move to Atlanta on your taxes is the DISTANCE requirement. This rule states that you must move within a distance to your place of work that is not a farther distance than that of your previous job commute from your previous residence. Meaning, if you currently work at a bank that is 15 miles from your home and you move to downtown Atlanta to work at a bank (or any job) that is now within 5 miles from your new home, you can use it as a tax write-off…AND you get kudos for cutting down on your carbon dioxide emissions by having a shorter commute. An important aspect of this rule to keep in mind is that the word HOME has to be where you reside, not where a family member or friend resides, and seasonal homes do not count either.

The second part to the DISTANCE test is that your new home must be 50 miles away from your old home. How can you calculate if your move passes the distance test? All My Sons suggests that you use the IRS formula, as follows:

The # of miles from your old home to your new workplace
The # of miles from your old home to your old workplace
Subtract #2 from #1. If the answer is at least 50 then you PASSED!

If you have not worked full-time in a long period of time, or if you have never worked full-time, your place of employment must be 50 miles away from your former home in order to meet the distance requirement.

All My Sons Moving & Storage of Atlanta wants you to have the best moving experience…period! Another requirement to be able to use your move as a tax write-off is that your move must be conducted in a timely manner, and our professional movers can do just that!