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moving expenses / multi-stage move

I sold my home in Ohio because I knew I was moving to Indiana for work that would begin in August. I had to move out in early July because that's when the buyers wanted to move in. At that point, I didn't specifically know what apartment/house I would be living in in Indiana and I had nowhere else to live, so I moved my stuff to my parents' home in Michigan. Less than 30 days later, I moved most (but not all) of the stuff from MI to my new apartment in Indiana. I have read

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, but it is notclear to me if I can deduct the cost of the moving truck, fuel, etc.from OH to MI and then from MI to IN, or if I somehow have to developan approximation for a route direct from OH to IN. To me, it seems reasonable to deduct it all (OH to MI to IN):

1) I had to accept the buyer's conditions of moving out in July because of the bad housing market, 2) it's not like I was sight-seeing as with the example of "Beth" seen at the previous URL, and 3) I needed to get stuff to my parents because I didn't know how much storage I would have in IN at the time I had to move from OH (so even if I had time to identify storage in IN in July, which I didn't, I wouldn't have known if I would be able to eventually move everything out of storage once I found a place to live in IN).

If it's relevant, I wasn't planning on deducting anything for paying my parents for storage.

What do you think? Thanks for your advice.

Reply to
Karl Magdono
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Your work related move applies to the move between MI and IN. Your move from OH to MI is strictly personal in nature. IRS always considers that the shortest distance between two points (what's allowed) is a straight line, via roads of course.

One tenent of tax practice is that "would have" and "should have" don't mean much.

Oh BTW, good thing you're not planning on paying parents for storage, since that would reportable on their income tax return! (You're not, right?)

Christmas ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

Reply to
Harlan Lunsford

. . .

I don't see why _he_ moved twice. He moved from OH to IN, storing his stuff in MI during the move. Did he ever live in MI, or just visit it while moving from OH to IN? Is there a regulation about how long a move can take? Is the limit under 30 days?

Seth

Reply to
Seth

I see your point, however it's not clear just where he moved himself now is it?

ChEAr$, Harlan

Reply to
Harlan Lunsford

...

I'm not a CPA and I've read at least one of the replies of one who knows far more than I ( :) ) but in this case I'd deduct actual cost and if they question it fix it then if had to since there was a reasonable basis for the actions taken.

I don't see the question Seth raised as being an issue -- to me it seems clear there was a temporary interlude between two jobs that wouldn't count imo as an actual relocation of residence.

Reply to
dpb

I hadn't paid my parents for storage. I can afford to do so, but my parents say they don't need it, so we would both prefer to do whatever has the best tax consequences in relation to the hassle (e.g., if there's too much hassle and/or audit risk involved in paying them for storage and then filing the forms, I think we'd all say why bother). Would paying my parents for storage add or take away any credibility in making the other deductions (e.g., for the truck expenses from OH to MI)?

Since I definitely had no intention of permanently staying at my parents when I moved my stuff from OH before moving it to IN to start my job (that I knew about when I left OH), I definitely like what Seth and dpb have said about the OH to MI "leg" as being part of the same overall reasonable move to IN. Under the circumstances of having to get the stuff out of my sold OH home, in my mind I didn't really have any reasonable alternative for a more direct (straight line) transfer of stuff from OH to IN. Especially if I don't pay my parents for storage, it seems like I should be able to argue that I should be able to count the multiple truck rentals in lieu of the storage fee that I would have needed to pay for a more direct move from OH to IN.

Anyway, thank you all for your input. If I can clarify anything, please let me know.

Reply to
Karl Magdono

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