ACA Home



Moving Back to America


by Roger B. Adams, EA



Things change.
Sometimes, Americans living and/or working abroad decide to return permanently to the US. It may be due to reaching retirement age, or the death of a spouse who was working abroad.

Generally, moving expenses are not deductible from income unless they are connected with a move to a new job, and you meet what are called the time and distance tests.

  1. Under the first test, the "distance test", your new job must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job location was from your old home. If you had no previous workplace, your new job must be at least 50 miles from your old home.

  1. The second test is the "time test". If you are an employee, you must work full-time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months right after you arrive in the general area of your new job. 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 work location. There are exceptions to the time test in case of death, disability and involuntary separation, among other things.

There is an exception for Americans abroad.

Moving expenses back to the States will be deductible from your income if you meet the requirements. Those expenses are deductible from all your income (whether earned from work or from passive income like interest, dividends, pensions, social security, rents, etc., as an adjustment to income on page 1 of the tax return.

This is an extremely significant benefit since shifting your entire household back to America can be a very expensive proposition. Consequently, it is of the utmost importance to keep careful and accurate records of every single nickel spent on the move. Check IRS Publication 521 to see exactly what expenses are deductible; the link is below.

Here are some examples:

  1. Ronald is 68 and living in Brazil with his wife Marsha. Both are US citizens. He is self-employed as a consultant to businesses wishing to invest in the Brazilian economy. In addition to his business income of $38,000, he gets social security payments of $16,800, collects rents of $15,000, and receives investment income of $24,000. Ronald and Marsha decide to permanently retire to California, and take their cat and dog with them. They may deduct all allowable moving expenses from their total income by filling out form 3903 and putting that amount on line 26 of Form 1040. After that, they may take the standard deduction (or itemized deductions), and personal and dependent exemptions to figure their US tax.

  1. Phillip and Jane and their two children live in Columbia where he is employed with a coffee company. Jane is unemployed. Phillip dies of a heart attack. Jane decides to return permanently to the United States with her kids no later than six months after his death. She may deduct the entire cost of the move for her and the children. She figures her tax as in example 1.

  1. John (US citizen) and Marie (French citizen) are married, and living in France. John is unemployed, but receives income from a trust, and Marie is a dentist. Marie is killed in an automobile accident. John wishes to return permanently to the US. He can deduct his moving expenses, figuring tax as in example 1.

Here are some additional details:

Retirees


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.


Permanently retired means you retired when you ceased 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.


Survivors


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 all of 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.

  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.



For complete information about moving expenses see IRS Publication 521: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/index.html

Copyright © 2010, Roger B. Adams, EA, all rights reserved