Form 3903 - Moving Expenses for F1, J1, H1B Visa Taxes

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

You can claim ONLY from Texas to wherever your job was, which is Wisconsin. The side trip to Seattle does NOT count as a moving expense.

[crazee]

Hello,

I was trying to fill up my tax return through CINTAX, and it didn't give me an option anywhere to fill up my moving expenses. Upon contacting them, they replied back saying that "To be eligible to claim moving expenses, your immigration status as of Dec 31, 2009 MUST be either a J1-Nonstudent, H1B, O-1 or TN". Is that true?

I was on F-1 OPT on Dec 31, 2009, however my H-1B is starting from March 1, 2010. I moved in Sept 2009 to a new location to start my job, and wanted to claim moving expenses for the same. Do I not qualify to claim moving expenses in 2009 return? Can I do the same in 2010 then?

Thanks!

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

The IRS will not permit a deduction for the costs of the detour to Seattle.

You need to pro-rate the costs so that they represent the costs that you would have incurred had the detour to Seattle had not happened. A phone call to the moving company will get you the costs for a move straight from Texas to Wisconsin.

[crazee]

Dear Atlanta Tax Guru,

I guess the latest question was related to claiming moving expenses while under F-1 as below:

Originally Posted by crazee

Hello,

I was trying to fill up my tax return through CINTAX, and it didn't give me an option anywhere to fill up my moving expenses. Upon contacting them, they replied back saying that "To be eligible to claim moving expenses, your immigration status as of Dec 31, 2009 MUST be either a J1-Nonstudent, H1B, O-1 or TN". Is that true?

I was on F-1 OPT on Dec 31, 2009, however my H-1B is starting from March 1, 2010. I moved in Sept 2009 to a new location to start my job, and wanted to claim moving expenses for the same. Do I not qualify to claim moving expenses in 2009 return? Can I do the same in 2010 then?

Thanks!

Thanks!

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

I have both researched this issue in the IRS regulations, and have called the IRS, and to date I have found NO prohibition for students on F-1 visas to claim moving expenses when they go on OPT.

If a U.S. college student moves from his home to a new job, he is allowed to claim the moving expenses, even if he loses the job after his probationary period is over. The situation with a student on OPT is similar. The OPT is effectively a training job with a probationary period, and the student is learning and being paid a wage, often a high wage. If he incurs the moving expense, and meets the distance and time requirements, I see no reason why he cannot claim the moving expense.

[sonlalwani]

hello tax guru , my visa with my previous employer was expired in june 2009 so i went back to india from new york in june along with my family and then i applied for new h-1 visa and came to texas with new employer
direct from india along with my family could i claim air -tickets from india to texas as moving expense , becuse this is new h-1 visa and new employer and i have to go back to india for 2 month because i did not have visa , though i claimed moving expenses in 2006 when i moved to newyork to join my previous employer