IRS Material: Moving - Retiree or Survivor Abroad
Pub 521
Retirees or survivors. You may be able to deduct the expenses of moving to the United States or its possessions even if the move is not related to a new job. You must have worked outside the United States or be a survivor of someone who did. Retirees or Survivors Who Move to the United States You can deduct your allowable moving expenses if you move to the United States or to a possession of the United States. You do not have to meet the time test, discussed earlier, but you must meet the requirements discussed below. Retirees. You can deduct moving expenses for a move to a new home in the United States when you permanently retire. However, both your former main job location and your former home must have been outside the United States. Permanently retired. You are considered permanently retired when you cease gainful full-time employment or self-employment. If at the time you retire, you intend your retirement to be permanent, you will be considered retired though you later return to work. Your intention to retire permanently will be determined by: 1.Your age and health, 2.The customary retirement age for people who do similar work, 3.Whether you receive retirement payments from a pension or retirement fund, and 4.The length of time before you return to full-time work. Survivors. You can deduct moving expenses for a move to a home in the United States if you are the spouse or the dependent of a person whose main job location at the time of death was outside the United States. The move must begin within 6 months after the decedent's death. It must be from the decedent's former home outside the United States. That home must also have been your home. When a move begins. A move begins when : 1.You contract for your household goods and personal effects to be moved to your home in the United States, but only if the move is completed within a reasonable time. 2.Your household goods and personal effects are packed and on the way to your home in the United States. 3.You leave your former home to travel to your new home in the United States.