Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

[WTF]

Indeed.... It is that time of year again. Most of my tax situation is pretty straight forward. But going through the process, something caught my eyes that I really hadn't ever paid attention to.

Moving Expenses... and the deduction that comes along with it. Now, I've followed the form to a T, and found out that I am indeed eligible for the Moving Expense Deduction. We moved in December for my new position that was required by the company.

Now... Here is where my question comes in. I worked with the Police Force for several years, and in January, I was transferred around 200 miles away to a different sector of the state. So I was required to move in January, and then again when I moved in December for the new job.

I guess my question is, do I deduct for both moves if they both qualify? I will be staying in this current job, no doubt... so the 39 week thing will apply.

Any help would be appreciated. If you'd rather PM, then that's cool too. (In case you don't want to be flooded with Tax questions, )(or ridiculed)

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

You should be able to deduct for both moves as long as they occured within the calendar year and were "work" related moves, which is a very generic rule.

I think there is a minimum distance you have to move, but it sounds like you have all that covered.

You should be able to write off all moving related expenses with the exception of food (moving truck/company, hotels, gas, insurance, storage, etc.)

If you took on any new mortgages because of this, there are some breaks on that as well (regardless of whether they are related to your move).


***Edit....it does get tricky with the 39 week requirement, but because your moves were in Jan and then all the way in Dec, it seems you should be fine. Nothing I've read says that it can only be one move in a calendar year.

The only question is after you moved 200 miles in Jan, how far did you move in Dec?

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

I looked this up on turbotax.com as this situation was very close to yours.


Question:
Moved twice, once in January, and the second in December. Can I deduct the expenses for both?
Okay, quick rundown. I worked for the State Police Force, and they transferred me in January to fill a shortage of road units, requiring me and my family to move. We paid it all out of pocket, and were not reimbursed. Total for moving belongings, paying the movers, hotel for a night, and gas was around $1900, give or take a few cents.

Fast forward to the last week in November, I accepted a new position in a different career field, and was required to move into my new territory, also paid out of pocket. This cost was a little bit more, coming in at around $2600.

I pass the eligibility test (distance, time, etc) for both jobs (says I can claim for the move in November if I will stay at this position for the 39 weeks, or I can claim it next year, my choice).

Can I claim both moving deductions? Or just one?

Do I combine them? There is a place to add more than one move, so I'm assuming I can, but I want to make sure. And is there a cap of moving costs? (i.e.- Not to exceed $3k, 4k for example?)

Answer:
You can claim both moves, and should combine them. There is no cap.

Moving expenses are limited to -
--- the cost of transportation of your household goods and family effects,
--- travel costs (including lodging but not meals) of you, your spouse and your dependents
--- the cost of storing and insuring household goods and personal effects within any period of 30 consecutive days after the day your things are moved from your former home and before they are delivered to your new home.

Not deductible are temporary quarters (except for the day of arrival), a house hunting trip, a loss or costs on the sale or purchase of a residence or apartment,

See IRS Publication 521 on moving expenses here: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/ar02.html#en_US_publink100043359
( Answered today 01:06 PM ,Views by community 3 )

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Is this you? Police...asked today? WTF vs. WF50....has to be you!!!

[WTF]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

That was mine on TurboTax as well. Appreciate the insight though. Looks like I'm covered.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

That was mine on TurboTax as well. Appreciate the insight though. Looks like I'm covered.

You didn't say (or I didn't see it), but was the second move also more than 50 miles?

And did you buy/sell a house as part of these moves?

[WTF]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Nope, renting at both places. We didn't buy because we didn't know if we'd be in either area "that" long. But yeah, the second move was 98 miles, so it qualifies as well for the distance test, and will qualify for the time test.

[ScoobySnax]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

That was mine on TurboTax as well. Appreciate the insight though. Looks like I'm covered.

LMAO! Too funny!

[Slymm]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

How do you guys get your taxes done? For the past few years I've sent them back home to my mom and she has her friend do them. Now that I'm married my wife and I want to get them done locally but my wife feel like other places charge too much and wants to try to do it ourselves. How hard is it to do them on your own and how do you guys do them?

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

How do you guys get your taxes done? For the past few years I've sent them back home to my mom and she has her friend do them. Now that I'm married my wife and I want to get them done locally but my wife feel like other places charge too much and wants to try to do it ourselves. How hard is it to do them on your own and how do you guys do them?

It depends on how simple things are...if you don't have kids, own a home, etc and don't qualify for more than the standard deduction, you can file a 1040 EZ, which is either free or like $10 to file depending on what site you go to.


You can also check out taxslayer.com (which has cheaper prices than turbotax, but from what i read, they are not as good if you have some complex tax situations). You can also use H&R Blocks website. I tried it a few years ago, but felt it wasn't as simple and smooth as turbo tax's.

Even if you own a house, have kids, etc. it is still very simple. You just end up paying $20-$40 (depending on the site), but they still walk you through every step. If you've sold stock, etc. then there is another level that is like $50-$75 or so.

I've used turbotax.com for the past 5 or 6 years and do it on my own. It's very, very simple. They guide you step by step and you just input data. You don't have to know any tax laws as they figure everything out for you. You just have to have your tax statements available for input (a lot of companies are retrieved automatically through the site depending on what payroll/check company they use).

It's really hard to mess up unless you have some uncommon or complex situations.

Give it a try...you don't pay anything until you actually file and you can have the check deposited right into your account.

[Slymm]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Yeah there's nothing complex about our situation we both work full time, I'm a grad student and she was in medical school so we have loans but that's about it. No houses, no stock, no nothing

[jeremym480]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Yeah there's nothing complex about our situation we both work full time, I'm a grad student and she was in medical school so we have loans but that's about it. No houses, no stock, no nothing

I use Turbo Tax. It may cost a little more but, it's super simple. So easy a caveman can do it

You can always try and nothings concrete until the end so, you can go back and make changes if you need to.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Yeah there's nothing complex about our situation we both work full time, I'm a grad student and she was in medical school so we have loans but that's about it. No houses, no stock, no nothing

Things to look into:

Do you qualify for any education credits since you're in grad school? IIRC, you can still qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit while in grad school. Doesn't hurt to check.

Gather any and all paperwork sent to you from the banks or companies your wife has student loans with. The interest paid towards them counts against your taxable income (up to $2500.00).

DO NOT pay someone an outrageous amount to do your taxes. From what you've said, you basically have a couple W-2s and student loan interest forms to gather. Use Form 1040A and just follow the instructions. It's really not that hard. I do mine with pen and paper.

I do similar returns for some of my friends like this and it takes me about a half hour, and I'm no tax specialist. I don't charge them, but if they insist on paying me, I just have them buy me a case of good beer, lol. I'm sure you could find someone to just take a look at everything after you've filled it out to make sure it looks OK.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Things to look into:

Do you qualify for any education credits since you're in grad school? IIRC, you can still qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit while in grad school. Doesn't hurt to check.

Also, they can claim his/her studen loan interest (only if you file Married - Jointly) that was paid during the year. I don't think you need to itemize for this either. I think you are limited to like $2500 in interest.

[WTF]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

What about obtaining Professional Licenses? I had to go through and obtain my Life/Health/Property/Casualty Insurance Licenses and take the State Required Classes... would that be the Lifetime Learning, or American Opportunity Credit, or where would I put that in? It was 2 40 HR weeks, and then 4 1 hour exams.

Thanks Tim

[p_rushing]

Re: Tax Professionals? Need a little insight

Turbo Tax is great. The software asks you a bunch of questions so you don't miss out on deductions. Its not perfect for someone that has a lot complications, but if you have that you probably already have an accountant.