Hello tax experts,

I moved to India after living in US for 8 years in 2010. I got back to US in Nov 2013 to work for a software company in CA and my family joined me in Jan 2014.

Now, I am filing 1040NR for 2013 as "married filing separately".

1) Can I claim the cost of my airplane tickets as a moving expense deduction for year 2013 return.

2) Can I claim the airplane tickets for my wife and 2 kids as a moving expense deduction for either year 2013/2014 return.

I was unemployed from Jan-Mar 2013 and an independent consultant from Apr to Oct 2013 in India.

Thanks.

You CAN file Form 1040NR with Form 3903 to claim both your airfare and the airfare for your family in 2013 (for your airfare) and for 2013 or 2014 (for your family's airfare, depending on WHEN you paid for the ticket).

This assumes you did NOT get reimbursed for this cost by your employer with a tax-free reimbursement.

You can also file jointly with your wife and choose to be treated as resident aliens for all of 2013. This requires you wait until sometime in June 2014 to file, but the tax savings may be worth the wait. Your wife does NOT have to be physical present in the United States for you to file a joint return.

Sorry, but you cannot claim either of your children. Their physical presence in the U.S. for at least 31 days in 2013 IS required to be included on the joint return.

If you file jointly, you must declare ALL world-wide income earned by both spouses, but Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit) or Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) or both can be used to mitigate any double taxation.

I would have to model the return both ways to determine which way is best.

If you need professional help filing, please email me at the email address in my profile.

Thanks AtlantaTaxExpert.

I wanted to add that my wife was not working before/after the move to US.

I bought the tickets on Dec 30 2013.

Can I claim her flight ticket as moving expense deduction if I don't want to file as a resident for entire 2013.

My employer did not reimburse me for the flight tickets.

You can claim the moving costs even if you file by yourself as a non-resident alien in 2013. You just need to file Form 1040NR and Form 3903.

Those moving costs include the flight tickets for your family as well as yourself.

> Sorry, but you cannot claim either of your children.

Also, I read another post which said that wife should be working before the move to claim her flight ticket as a moving expense deduction.

> You can claim the moving costs even if you file by yourself as a non-resident alien in 2013. You just need to file Form 1040NR and Form 3903. Those moving costs include the flight tickets for your family as well as yourself.

Sorry to bring this up again but just to clarify, if I file 1040NR as MFS and my wife doesn't file a return as she was not present in US in 2013, then I can claim my and entire family's tickets as moving expense deduction in the 2013 return?

Whether your wife is working or not is irrelevant. Moving costs for the immediate family are ALWAYS deductible.

So, yes, you CAN claim your family's moving expenses even if you file MFS.

Whether your wife is working or not is irrelevant. Moving costs for the immediate family are ALWAYS deductible.

So, yes, you CAN claim your family's moving expenses even if you file MFS.


Thank you for your help.

Glad to help!

Sorry to resurrect this old thread.

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I paid for my and family's flight expenses in 2013. Can I claim these expenses as a moving expense deduction on my 2014 MFJ resident return? I think not but just thought of double checking with the tax experts here. From the pub 521 (Publication 521 (2013), Moving Expenses (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/ar02.html#en_US_2013_publink1000203544):)):

When To Deduct Expenses.
..
If you were not reimbursed, deduct your moving expenses in the year you paid or incurred the expenses
..

As I was not reimbursed for anything, it seems the above would apply in my case.

@AtlantaTaxExpert, could you please confirm.

If you incurred and paid the moving expenses in 2013, then you must deduct them on your 2013 tax return using Form 3903.