The federal moving expense deduction is available only to active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces moving under permanent change of station orders and, since 2025, to certain intelligence community employees relocating for a change in assignment. Everyone else lost the deduction under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 made that suspension permanent by removing its sunset date.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 217 – Moving Expenses If you qualify, you can write off the cost of shipping your household goods and getting yourself to the new home, with meals and most settling-in costs excluded.
Who Can Claim It
Two groups qualify at the federal level. The first is active-duty military members moving under a permanent change of station order. That covers a move between duty posts, a move to your first post of active duty, and a move from your last post to your home or a nearby location when you retire or separate.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 (2025), Armed Forces’ Tax Guide The move must be ordered, not chosen.
The second group was added by the 2025 reconciliation bill: eligible employees and appointees of the intelligence community who relocate because of a change in assignment. The statute uses the National Security Act definition, which reaches agencies like the CIA, NSA, and DIA, along with the intelligence elements of the military services.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 217 – Moving Expenses These employees get the same treatment as military members, both for the deduction itself and for the exclusion of employer-paid moving benefits.
No other taxpayer qualifies, regardless of how far the move is or whether it’s for a job. The old distance and time tests (50 extra commuting miles; 39 or 78 weeks of work at the new location) are waived for both qualifying groups, so in practice those tests don’t affect anyone currently eligible.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 217 – Moving Expenses
What Counts as a Deductible Moving Expense
Qualified expenses fall into two categories: moving your belongings and moving yourself.
Shipping Household Goods and Personal Effects
You can deduct the cost of packing, crating, and shipping your household goods and personal effects from the old home to the new one. Furniture, clothing, kitchenware, and anything else you’d normally keep in a home all count, as does shipping your car and your pets.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses
Storage and insurance costs qualify for up to 30 consecutive days between leaving your old home and arriving at the new one. If you’re stationed overseas, the rule loosens: reasonable storage costs are deductible for the entire assignment, not just the 30-day window.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses
Travel to the New Home
Transportation for you and the members of your household is deductible, whether that’s airfare, train fare, or driving. If you drive, you can choose between actual gas and oil costs (maintenance, insurance, and depreciation don’t count) or the IRS standard mileage rate for moving. The 2026 moving-purposes rate is 20.5 cents per mile.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents Parking and tolls are deductible either way.
Lodging during the trip itself qualifies. A hotel the night you stop driving between the old and new home is in; a detour for sightseeing or a few extra nights at a scenic stop is out.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses
What You Cannot Deduct
Meals are the one most people miss. Food is never deductible as a moving expense, including meals eaten on the road while driving to your new home.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses Several other costs that feel move-related also fall outside the deduction:
- House-hunting trips before the actual move
- Temporary lodging at the new location while you wait for permanent housing
- Real estate commissions, closing costs, mortgage fees, title insurance, and points on either end
- Security deposits, lease-break penalties, and new-lease deposits
- Refitting carpets or drapes and improvements made to sell the old home
- New-area costs like car registration, driver’s license changes, or lost club membership fees
The underlying rule is narrow. Deductible costs are the ones that physically move you and your belongings from the old home to the new one. Anything about finding, buying, selling, or settling into the new place is on the non-deductible side.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses
Employer Reimbursements and Your W-2
For military members and qualifying intelligence community employees, reimbursements for qualified moving expenses are excluded from gross income and don’t appear as wages on your W-2.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 132 – Certain Fringe Benefits Moving and storage services provided in kind by the government are treated the same way.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 (2025), Armed Forces’ Tax Guide
For every other employee the exclusion is permanently gone. Any amount an employer pays toward a civilian move is taxable wages, reported on the W-2 and subject to income tax withholding and payroll taxes.7Internal Revenue Service. Moving Expenses to and from the United States Because the deduction is also unavailable, there’s nothing on the return to offset that income. A $15,000 relocation package can produce $4,000 or more in added tax with no deduction to cushion it.
If you’re in the military and your reimbursement exceeds your actual costs, the excess generally gets added to your W-2 wages. You can then deduct your actual qualified expenses on Form 3903 to offset the included amount.8Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 3903 – Moving Expenses Separate allowances such as dislocation allowances, temporary lodging expenses, and move-in housing allowances have their own exclusion and stay out of income regardless of amount.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 (2025), Armed Forces’ Tax Guide
How to Claim the Deduction
Eligible taxpayers use IRS Form 3903, Moving Expenses. You list qualified expenses, subtract any reimbursements that were already excluded from your income, and carry the result to Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 14.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3903 (2025) The deduction reduces adjusted gross income, so you get it whether you itemize or take the standard deduction.
If all of your moving expenses were covered or reimbursed by the government and that reimbursement was excluded from your income, there’s nothing to deduct and no need to file Form 3903. The form comes into play only when you have unreimbursed qualified expenses, or when part of your reimbursement was included in your W-2 wages.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3903 (2025)
Records to Keep
Hold onto receipts and documentation for every expense you claim: moving company invoices, gas receipts, hotel bills, mileage logs, and copies of your military orders. The IRS can examine your return for up to three years from the date you filed or the date it was due, whichever is later, so keep the file at least that long.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3903
If you use the standard mileage rate, keep a log with starting and ending odometer readings, dates, and the route. A mileage-tracking app is fine. For household goods, the moving company’s bill of lading and final invoice usually do the job; keep separate receipts for any packing materials, insurance, or storage you paid for out of pocket.
What About State Taxes
A handful of states still allow a moving expense deduction on the state return, following the pre-2017 federal rules. If you live in one of them, you may be able to deduct qualifying moving costs at the state level even when you can’t federally, and the state rules generally mirror the old federal distance and time tests. Check your state tax agency’s instructions to see whether the deduction is available where you live and what records you need to claim it.