About the author
Chris Terry
Editor, Encore Editorial
Chris Terry edits and publishes at Encore Editorial. He has spent years covering business finance and consumer markets, with a focus on making complicated cost decisions easier to think through.
For most people the answer is no, at least for federal taxes, with one notable exception. Here is the picture, and the part you should confirm for your year.
The short version: for most taxpayers, moving expenses are not deductible on a federal return right now. There is one clear exception, and a few wrinkles worth knowing before you assume you can or cannot claim them.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the moving-expense deduction for most people for tax years 2018 through 2025. During that window, even a job-related cross-country move generally cannot be deducted on a federal return. Employer reimbursements for moving also became taxable income for most workers during the same period.
Active-duty members of the Armed Forces can still deduct unreimbursed moving costs when the move is a permanent change of station made under military orders. They claim it on IRS Form 3903. This exception held throughout the suspension while it was closed for everyone else.
The suspension was written to expire after 2025, and tax law can change. If you are filing for a year at or after that boundary, do not assume the old rule still applies in either direction. Check the current-year instructions on the IRS website or ask a tax professional before you count on a deduction or write one off.
State income tax rules do not always match the federal ones. A handful of states kept a moving-expense deduction on their own returns even while the federal one was suspended. If you moved within or into a state with its own income tax, it is worth checking that state's rules separately, since you might get nothing federally and still claim something at the state level.
Whether or not you can deduct this year, hold on to receipts for the truck, the movers, the supplies, and the mileage. If you qualify under the military exception, or if the rules shift, documentation is what lets you actually claim the costs. While you are planning, the moving cost calculator helps you budget the move itself.
For those who can still claim it, the active-duty military, eligible costs generally include transporting and storing household goods and the travel, including lodging, to the new home. Meals along the way do not count. The move also has to tie to a permanent change of station under orders. If that is you, keep every receipt and the orders themselves, since Form 3903 is where it all comes together.
For most people, not on a federal return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the moving-expense deduction for tax years 2018 through 2025. Active-duty military moving under permanent-change-of-station orders are the exception and can still claim it.
Active-duty members of the Armed Forces moving under military orders. They use IRS Form 3903 for unreimbursed costs. For nearly everyone else, the federal deduction was suspended during that period.
The suspension was set to expire after 2025, but whether the deduction returns depends on what Congress does. Do not assume either way. Check the IRS instructions for your specific tax year before claiming or skipping it.
Possibly. Some states kept their own moving-expense deduction even while the federal one was suspended. State rules do not always follow federal ones, so check the rules for the state you moved within or into.
Chris Terry edits and publishes at Encore Editorial. He has spent years covering business finance and consumer markets, with a focus on making complicated cost decisions easier to think through.