HOUSEHOLD MOVING expenses are tax deductible if the taxpayer works 39 weeks of the following year as an employee or 78 weeks of the following two years in self-employment at a new job location. But the Tax Court interprets this law strictly, as the taxpayer in the Peterson case (T.C. Memo, 1984-554) recently discovered.
Keene, a Pentagon civilian employee, retired on Jan. 13 when he moved from Virginia to Florida. He continued working as a part-time consultant for the government but the Tax Court said the moving expense law requires full-time employment to qualify.
However, on Aug. 13 Keene became a full-time Florida real estate salesman. But unfortunately his employment began too late so he could not meet the 39-week employment test in the 12 months after his January move. His $5,904.31 moving expense tax deduction was denied.
