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Posts Tagged ‘Summertime’

Summer is a common time of year for people to move. Children are out of school and the weather is more conducive to trekking across any significant distance.

Summertime is also ideal for starting a tax preparation business. Beginning this process at mid-year permits an individual to complete all arrangements for a successful opening next tax season. A tax practitioner usually begins income tax preparation courses in late summer and studies throughout the fall. By year-end, the Registered Tax Return Preparer examination should be ready to pass.

Whenever a move occurs related to a job, the moving expenses are usually a tax deduction. All individuals who move because of work qualify, not just anyone starting a tax preparation career. Taxpayers who are eligible to deduct moving costs are not even required to itemize deductions in order to benefit.

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Finding taxpayers who have moved is a sound strategy for building clientele of a federal tax preparation service. Both new and experienced tax practitioners can use the end of summer as an opportunity for reaching out to those who moved this year. Now is the time to remind them about retaining records of moving expenses that they will need when their tax returns are prepared.

Costs for travel to the new location are among the deductible expenditures. This includes transportation expenses for all family members. A standard mileage rate is applicable for each vehicle used as transport. Only one trip per person is allowed. The cost of lodging during travel is counted as moving expense, but not the cost of meals while traveling.

Deductible moving expenses also include costs for packing, transporting, and in-transit storage of household goods. Individuals who move can also deduct the cost of disconnecting utilities at former homes and connecting at new homes.

Other costs related to moving in at a new location are not deductible. Also, anyone who is partially reimbursed by an employer for moving expenses should retain records of the reimbursements, which reduce the tax deduction.

In addition to a move having a connection to work, the IRS has two requirements for taxpayers to meet in order to deduct moving expenses. First, the new job location must be at least 50 miles farther from the former home than was the previous job location.

Secondly, full-time work in the new area must last for at least 39 weeks of the first 12 months after moving. This requirement is 78 weeks during the first 24 months for the self-employed. Sometimes moving expenses are deducted on a tax return that’s due before this requirement is met. In that case, tax preparer ethics require mentioning to taxpayers that the requirement must be eventually satisfied.

Tax preparer duties when moving expenses are deductible involve gathering the records of eligible expenses as well as calculating the distance and time tests. Then, Form 3903 is completed. A tax preparer should also assist taxpayers by completing Form 8822, which notifies the IRS of the address change.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.