Form 3903 (2016)
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 2016, the standard mileage rate for using your vehicle to move
to a new home is 19 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.
