My husband is taking a 6 month contract job in Seattle, he will be W-2'd by the contract employer. We will have to get health insurance ourselves and my husband will have to pay to live and work there in Seattle. He plans on taking public transportation to get around while there. My question(s) are for the tax write offs.
1. Can we write off his living expenses such as housing, transportation, groceries etc..
2. Would it be tax better for him to take a residence there while working there?
3. Can we write off the plane tickets for travel back and forth visits?

If you have any other helpful ideas please advise.
Thanks so much!
Lm

I'm surprised he's being hired as a W2 employee rather than as a 1099 contractor.

Yes, he can deduct commuting expenses as long as this is a short-term assignment (less than 1 year). He can deduct actual expenses for travel and living. As a W2 employee he would deduct these expenses as "miscellaneous deductions," which means he can deduct only the amount of expenses that are in excess of 2% of his adjusted gross income. He would document the expenses on Form 2106. More info here: Publication 529 (2010), Miscellaneous Deductions (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p529/ar02.html#en_US_publink100026912) and here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2106.pdf