I stumbled upon this site and I'm glad I did. I'm a resident who just had to relocate about 1200 miles for residency. Currently I'm arguing with my parents over whether or not I can claim my moving expenses. Tax law I believe is on my side because even though I am there for educational purposes, I am paying full FICA, SS, etc. There has been attempts to classify residents as educational for tax purposes which have failed in the past. Can you shed some light on this?? THANKS!

Zip Code: 74107

According to IRS Publication 521, Moving Expenses:

"First job or return to full-time work. If you go to work full time for the first time, your place of work must be at least 50 miles from your former home to meet the distance test.

If you go back to full-time work after a substantial period of part-time work or unemployment, your place of work also must be at least 50 miles from your former home."


That being said, you raise an interesting point. If the IRS considers you a student instead of an employee, they may not view your residency as your first job.

In my office, we take the stance that a residency program does qualify for the moving expense deduction. Everything the IRS has issued lately regarding whether medical residents are subject to FICA taxes reflects that the IRS does NOT view you and your colleagues as students, and instead, views you as employees subject to FICA taxes.

As a matter of fact, many of your colleagues have tried to have the IRS refund their FICA taxes from while they were in their residency program, and from what I have been told from visitors to the MDTAXES site, no one was successful in getting back these taxes.

Zip Code: 01801