IRS 50-Mile Rule: Who Can Still Deduct Moving Expenses

The IRS 50-mile rule is a distance test for moving expense deductions: your new workplace must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your previous workplace was. It used to determine whether any worker could deduct a move on a federal return. Starting in 2026, the federal deduction is permanent only for active-duty military and certain intelligence community employees, and both groups are exempt from the 50-mile test when they move under orders. The rule still matters in a narrow set of situations, mostly on state returns and for a couple of niche federal categories.

How the Distance Is Measured

The test compares two measurements, and both start from your old home. Measure from your old home to your old workplace. Then measure from your old home to your new workplace. If the second number beats the first by 50 miles or more, you pass.¹ If you had no prior workplace, the new one simply needs to sit at least 50 miles from the old home.

An example. Your old commute was 10 miles. Your new workplace has to be at least 60 miles from that same old home for the move to qualify. The IRS uses the shortest commonly traveled route between the two points, not straight-line distance on a map.²

A frequent error is measuring from your new home to your new workplace. That distance is irrelevant. The test is anchored to the old home, comparing how far each workplace is from that single point.

Who Can Still Deduct Moving Expenses

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 suspended the moving expense deduction for most taxpayers starting in 2018. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, made that elimination permanent for civilians.³ It is not coming back for ordinary workers.

Two groups still qualify on federal returns:

Active-duty members of the Armed Forces who move under a military order because of a permanent change of station. A PCS covers a move to a first duty post, a transfer between posts, or a final move home after leaving active duty.⁴
Employees or new appointees of the intelligence community who relocate because of a change in assignment. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave this group the same treatment as military members.³

If you fall outside those two categories, you cannot deduct moving costs on your federal return, no matter how far you moved.

The same rule applies to employer reimbursements. If a civilian employer pays for your relocation, that money is taxable wages on your W-2, and no offsetting deduction is available.³ Military and qualifying intelligence community employees can still exclude government-provided moving reimbursements from gross income.

Why Military PCS Moves Skip the 50-Mile Test

This is the detail most write-ups get wrong. Active-duty members moving under PCS orders do not have to pass the 50-mile test. The statute states that for a member of the Armed Forces on active duty who moves under a military order incident to a permanent change of station, “the limitations under subsection (c) shall not apply.” Subsection (c) is where both the distance test and the time test live.¹

The practical result: if you receive PCS orders, you can deduct your unreimbursed moving expenses regardless of how close the two duty stations sit. A transfer between bases 20 miles apart still qualifies. The exemption extends to a spouse and dependents moving with the service member, and to family members moving to a different location under the same orders.¹

Where the 50-Mile Rule Still Bites

Two federal categories keep the distance test in play. A military retiree whose last principal workplace and residence were outside the United States can deduct the cost of moving back to the U.S. in connection with a bona fide retirement. The spouse or dependent of a deceased service member whose last workplace was abroad can deduct the cost of moving to a U.S. residence within six months of the death. Both categories are exempt from the time test but must still satisfy the 50-mile distance test.¹

The other place the rule lives on is state tax returns. Not every state followed the federal elimination. A small number of states decoupled from the TCJA changes and still let civilians deduct moving costs on state returns, generally under the pre-2018 federal framework. In those states, the 50-mile distance test and the time test still apply because the state deduction mirrors the old federal rules.

The list shifts as legislatures update conformity, but California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Hawaii have been identified as allowing some form of moving expense deduction or exclusion on state returns. If you are a civilian who relocated for work, checking your state’s current rules is worth the effort. Your state tax agency or a tax professional who knows your state’s code can confirm what is available and what documentation you need.

What Counts as a Deductible Moving Expense

Whether you claim the deduction as a service member, an intelligence community employee, or a civilian on a state return, the eligible categories are the same.

Household Goods and Personal Effects

You can deduct the cost of packing, crating, and transporting your belongings from the old home to the new one. Storage and insurance are deductible for up to 30 consecutive days after your items leave the old home and before they arrive at the new one. For a move to a foreign duty station, storage costs are deductible for the entire period that the foreign location remains your principal workplace.⁵

Travel to the New Home

Travel from the old residence to the new one is deductible, including lodging along the route. If you drive, you can choose between actual vehicle expenses and the IRS standard mileage rate for moving purposes, which is 20.5 cents per mile for 2026.⁶ Either method allows a separate deduction for parking fees and tolls.

What Does Not Qualify

Meals are never deductible as a moving expense, even for long drives. The statute carves them out.¹ House-hunting trips, temporary housing at the new location, lease-breaking fees, and the costs of buying or selling a home are also non-deductible. Expenses the government reimbursed or paid directly cannot be claimed either.

Only the unreimbursed portion of qualified expenses is deductible. Service members often overlook this: the military’s Dislocation Allowance or Temporary Lodging Expense reimbursement may not cover everything, and the gap between what you were paid and what you actually spent is what you can deduct.

How to Claim the Deduction

The moving expense deduction is an above-the-line adjustment, so you can claim it whether or not you itemize. Use IRS Form 3903 to calculate the amount, then carry the total to line 14 of Schedule 1, which attaches to your Form 1040.⁷

Keep receipts, bills, credit card statements, and canceled checks for every expense. If you use the standard mileage rate, keep a mileage log with starting and ending odometer readings. Save your PCS orders or assignment change documentation, since those prove eligibility, and keep your W-2 and any government reimbursement statements so you can show which costs were covered and which were out of pocket.⁸ The IRS generally has three years from the filing date to audit a return, so hold these records at least that long.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 217 – Moving Expenses
2
Internal Revenue Service. Form 3903 – Moving Expenses (2017)
3
Internal Revenue Service. Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3903 (2025)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3903 (2025)
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents
7
Internal Revenue Service. Form 3903 (2025) Moving Expenses
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 521 – Moving Expenses (2018)