Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP26ac32af

Figure A  

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP1c54a2de First job or return to full-time work.

If you go to work full time for the first time, your place of work must be at least 50 miles from your former home to meet the distance test.

If you go back to full-time work after a substantial period of part-time work or unemployment, your place of work also must be at least 50 miles from your former home.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP23256aa8 Armed Forces.

If you are in the Armed Forces and you moved because of a permanent change of station, you do not have to meet the distance test. See Members of the Armed Forces, later.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP6e67b291 Main job location.

Your main job location is usually the place where you spend most of your working time. If there is no one place where you spend most of your working time, your main job location is the place where your work is centered, such as where you report for work or are otherwise required to "base" your work.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP0dcb4feb Union members.

If you work for several employers on a short-term basis and you get work under a union hall system (such as a construction or building trades worker), your main job location is the union hall.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP202f4eff More than one job.

If you have more than one job at any time, your main job location depends on the facts in each case. The more important factors to be considered are:

• The total time you spend at each place,
• The amount of work you do at each place, and
• How much money you earn at each place.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP3b95358c Time Test

Time Test

To deduct your moving expenses, you also must meet one of the following two time tests.

1. The time test for employees.
2. The time test for self-employed persons.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP6c7eac53 Time Test for Employees

Time Test for Employees

If you are an employee, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job location (39-week test). Full-time employment depends on what is usual for your type of work in your area.

For purposes of this test, the following four rules apply.

1. You count only your full-time work as an employee, not any work you do as a self-employed person.
2. You do not have to work for the same employer for all 39 weeks.
3. You do not have to work 39 weeks in a row.
4. You must work full time within the same general commuting area for all 39 weeks.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP27247950 Temporary absence from work.

You are considered to have worked full time during any week you are temporarily absent from work because of illness, strikes, lockouts, layoffs, natural disasters, or similar causes. You are also considered to have worked full time during any week you are absent from work for leave or vacation provided for in your work contract or agreement.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP7de50146 Seasonal work.

If your work is seasonal, you are considered to be working full time during the off-season only if your work contract or agreement covers an off-season period of less than 6 months. For example, a school teacher on a 12-month contract who teaches on a full-time basis for more than 6 months is considered to have worked full time for the entire 12 months.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP39404979 Time Test for Self-Employed Persons

Time Test for Self-Employed Persons

If you are self-employed, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and for a total of at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job location (78-week test).

For purposes of the time test for self-employed persons, the following three rules apply.

1. You count any full-time work you do either as an employee or as a self-employed person.
2. You do not have to work for the same employer or be self-employed in the same trade or business for the 78 weeks.
3. You must work within the same general commuting area for all 78 weeks.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP3b62824d Self-employment.

You are self-employed if you work as the sole owner of an unincorporated business or as a partner in a partnership carrying on a business. You are not considered self-employed if you are semi-retired, are a part-time student, or work only a few hours each week.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP1b99ed1b Full-time work.

You can count only those weeks during which you work full time as a week of work. Whether you work full time during any week depends on what is usual for your type of work in your area. For example, you are a self-employed dentist and maintain office hours 4 days a week. You are considered to perform services full time if maintaining office hours 4 days a week is not unusual for other self-employed dentists in your area.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP1da386df Temporary absence from work.

You are considered to be self-employed on a full-time basis during any week you are temporarily absent from work because of illness, strikes, natural disasters, or similar causes.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP669feac4 Seasonal trade or business.

If your trade or business is seasonal, the off-season weeks when no work is required or available may be counted as weeks during which you worked full time. The off-season must be less than 6 months and you must work full time before and after the off-season.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP6ce74950
Example.

You own and operate a motel at a beach resort. The motel is closed for 5 months during the off-season. You work full time as the operator of the motel before and after the off-season. You are considered self-employed on a full-time basis during the weeks of the off-season.

If you were both an employee and self-employed, see Table 1, earlier, for the requirements.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP709ea5da
Example.

Justin quit his job and moved from the east coast to the west coast to begin a full-time job as a cabinet-maker for C and L Cabinet Shop. He generally worked at the shop about 40 hours each week. Shortly after the move, Justin also began operating a cabinet-installation business from his home for several hours each afternoon and all day on weekends. Because Justin's principal place of business is the cabinet shop, he can satisfy the time test by meeting the 39-week test.

If Justin is unable to satisfy the requirements of the 39-week test during the 12-month period immediately following his arrival in the general location of his new principal place of work, he can satisfy the 78-week test.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP69b5f515 Joint Return

Joint Return

If you are married and file a joint return and both you and your spouse work full time, either of you can satisfy the full-time work test. However, you cannot add the weeks your spouse worked to the weeks you worked to satisfy that test.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP51adb779 Time Test Not Yet Met

Time Test Not Yet Met

You can deduct your moving expenses on your 2004 tax return even though you have not yet met the time test by the date your 2004 return is due. You can do this if you expect to meet the 39-week test in 2005 or the 78-week test in 2005 or 2006. If you deduct moving expenses but do not meet the time test in 2005 or 2006, you must either:

1. Report your moving expense deduction as other income on your Form 1040 for the year you cannot meet the test, or
2. Amend your 2004 return using Form 1040X.

If you do not deduct your moving expenses on your 2004 return, and you later meet the time test, you can file an amended return for 2004 to take the deduction.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP36b92b6f
Example.

You arrive in the general area of your new job location on September 15, 2004. You deduct your moving expenses on your 2004 return, the year of the move, even though you have not yet met the time test by the date your return is due. If you do not meet the 39-week test during the 12-month period following your arrival in the general area of your new job location, you must either:

1. Report as income on your 2005 return the amount you deducted as moving expenses on your 2004 return, or
2. Amend your 2004 return.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP3b666c1c Exceptions to the Time Test

Exceptions to the Time Test for Moving Expenses

You do not have to meet the time test if one of the following applies.

1. You are in the Armed Forces and you moved because of a permanent change of station. See Members of the Armed Forces, later.
2. Your main job location was outside the United States and you moved to the United States because you retired. See Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States, later.
3. You are the survivor of a person whose main job location at the time of death was outside the United States. See Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States, later.
4. Your job at the new location ends because of death or disability.
5. You are transferred for your employer's benefit or laid off for a reason other than willful misconduct. For this exception, you must have obtained full-time employment and you must have expected to meet the test at the time you started the job.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#f15040E02

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP24ea8cf6

Figure B  

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP40a4f776 Retirees or Survivors   Who Move to the United States

Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States

If you are a retiree who was working abroad or a survivor of a decedent who was working abroad and you move to the United States or one of its possessions, you do not have to meet the time test, discussed earlier. However, you must meet the requirements discussed below under Retirees who were working abroad or Survivors of decedents who were working abroad.

If you are living in the United States, retire, and then move and remain retired, you cannot claim a moving expense deduction for that move.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP0bbf83bf United States defined.

For this section of this publication, the term "United States" includes the possessions of the United States.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP27426766 Retirees who were working abroad.

You can deduct moving expenses for a move to a new home in the United States when you permanently retire. However, both your former main job location and your former home must have been outside the United States.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP3b1a63b0 Permanently retired.

You are considered permanently retired when you cease gainful full-time employment or self-employment. If, at the time you retire, you intend your retirement to be permanent, you will be considered retired even though you later return to work. Your intention to retire permanently may be determined by:

1. Your age and health,
2. The customary retirement age for people who do similar work,
3. Whether you receive retirement payments from a pension or retirement fund, and
4. The length of time before you return to full-time work.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP6b8cc6be Survivors of decedents who were working abroad.

If you are the spouse or the dependent of a person whose main job location at the time of death was outside the United States, you can deduct moving expenses if the following five requirements are met.

1. The move is to a home in the United States.
2. The move begins within 6 months after the decedent's death. (When a move begins is described below.)
3. The move is from the decedent's former home.
4. The decedent's former home was outside the United States.
5. The decedent's former home was also your home.

Taxmap/pubs/p521-000.htm#TXMP06832c7d When a move begins.

A move begins when one of the following events occurs.

1. You contract for your household goods and personal effects to be moved to your home in the United States, but only if the move is completed within a reasonable time.
2. Your household goods and personal effects are packed and on the way to your home in the United States.
3. You leave your former home to travel to your new home in the United States.

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