                            T.C. Summary Opinion 2015-75



                            UNITED STATES TAX COURT



                MATTHEW THOMAS PARMETER, Petitioner v.
             COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent



      Docket No. 30121-14S.                            Filed December 21, 2015.



      Matthew Thomas Parmeter, pro se.

      Nancy M. Gilmore and Woodrow Pengelly (specially recognized),

for respondent.



                                 SUMMARY OPINION


      GERBER, Judge: This case was heard pursuant to the provisions of section

7463 of the Internal Revenue Code in effect when the petition was filed.1


      1
          Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal
                                                                           (continued...)
                                        -2-

Pursuant to section 7463(b), the decision to be entered is not reviewable by any

other court, and this opinion shall not be treated as precedent for any other case.

Respondent determined a $7,062 income tax deficiency for petitioner’s 2012

taxable year. The issue for our consideration is the amount of the moving expense

deduction to which petitioner is entitled for 2012.

                                    Background

      Petitioner resided in Maryland at the time his petition was filed. During

2012 petitioner, an information technology engineer for the U.S. Department of

the Army, accepted a new position, and his moving expenses were not reimbursed

by his employer. Petitioner, in a effort to save money, decided to move his

household belongings himself from his residence in Drum, Pennsylvania, to

Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The distance from his old to his new

residence was 182 miles.

      Petitioner moved his household belongings in his pickup truck. He

transported his personal belongings, vehicles, etc., by making 20 round trips with

his truck. During each trip he placed the household belongings in a storage




      1
      (...continued)
Revenue Code in effect for the year in issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax
Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
                                        -3-

facility in the vicinity of his new job. The facility charged petitioner $178 per

month, and he stored his belongings for nine months during 2012.

      During four of the round trips to the vicinity of his new job, petitioner

rented a trailer to move larger items, including vehicles. The trailer rental expense

was $250 on each occasion. Before being able to use his new residence, petitioner

rented a hotel room for $139 per night for two nights.

      On his 2012 income tax return petitioner deducted $29,527 for

unreimbursed moving expenses. He used tax preparation software to prepare his

return and did not understand how the $29,527 was computed. Petitioner obtained

three estimates of the cost to pack and move his household goods. The estimates

were from $22,000 to approximately $30,000. Respondent, in a notice of

deficiency, determined that petitioner was not entitled to deduct any part of the

$29,527.

                                     Discussion

      A taxpayer may deduct moving expenses paid or incurred in connection

with the commencement of work at a new principal place of work. Sec. 217(a). In

order for the expenses to be deductible, the taxpayer must meet the conditions set

forth in section 217(c). Respondent agrees that petitioner met those conditions.
                                        -4-

      The remaining question for our consideration is the amount of the deduction

for moving expenses to which petitioner is entitled. Moving expenses are

deductible only if they are reasonable under the circumstances of the particular

move. Sec. 1.217-2(b)(2)(i), Income Tax Regs.

      Requirements for the deduction for moving household goods are, in

pertinent part, specified in section 1.217-2(b)(3), Income Tax Regs., as follows:

      Expenses of moving household goods and personal effects include
      expenses of transporting such goods and effects from the taxpayer’s
      former residence to his new residence, and expenses of packing,
      crating, and in-transit storage and insurance for such goods and
      effects. * * * Expenses of storing and insuring household goods and
      personal effects constitute in-transit expenses if incurred within any
      consecutive 30-day period after the day such goods and effects are
      moved from the taxpayer’s former residence and prior to delivery at
      the taxpayer’s new residence. * * *

Petitioner chose to move his personal property himself in order to save money. He

did not offer evidence of the actual expenses of transporting his personal property.

Under Rev. Proc. 2010-51, 2010-51 I.R.B. 883, he would be entitled to use the

optional standard mileage rate, which was 23 cents per mile for the year in issue.

See Notice 2012-1, 2012-2 I.R.B. 260.

      Petitioner drove 20 round trips for a total of 7,280 miles (182 × 2 × 20 =

7,280). At 23 cents per mile the cost of moving his personal property is

$1,674.40. Petitioner also incurred several months of storage fees for his personal
                                         -5-

property; however, under section 1.217-2(b)(3), Income Tax Regs., he is entitled

only to the cost for one month or $178, in accord with the 30-day limitation in that

regulation. Petitioner also rented a trailer on four occasions to move large items,

including motor vehicles, at a cost of $250 per rental or a total of $1,000.

      Respondent did not question the reasonableness or number of trips that

petitioner made to move his property. Instead, respondent argued that under

section 1.217-2(b)(4), Income Tax Regs., petitioner is entitled to deduct only the

cost of one trip to his new residence. That regulation, in pertinent part, provides

as follows:

      Expenses of traveling from the former residence to the new place of
      residence include the cost of transportation * * * and lodging en route
      (including the date of arrival) from the taxpayer’s former residence to
      his new place of residence. * * * The deduction for traveling
      expenses from the former residence to the new place of residence is
      allowable for only one trip made by the taxpayer and members of his
      household; however, it is not necessary that the taxpayer and all
      members of his household travel together or at the same time.

Respondent contends that the one-trip limitation of paragraph (b)(4) applies to the

transportation of personal property under subparagraph (3). Respondent cited no

cases for his interpretation that the one-trip limitation of paragraph (b)(4) applies

to travel to transport personal property to a new residence. Petitioner, confronted

with a $22,000 to $30,000 cost to have a moving company move his personal
                                        -6-

property, transported the property to the new location in anticipation of moving to

that residence. The property was stored near the new residence in anticipation of

the final move to the new residence.

      Respondent’s interpretation would ignore the actual cost incurred by

individuals who move their own personal property and would effectively limit the

purpose of section 1.217-2(b)(3), Income Tax Regs., to instances where taxpayers

paid to have their personal property commercially moved or moved by someone

not a member of the family.

      The final of the 20 trips to the new residence must be counted as petitioner’s

travel to his new residence, and accordingly he would not be entitled to deduct the

cost of a round trip on that occasion. The effect of the one-trip rule would be to

reduce petitioner’s costs by $41.86 (182 × .23 = 41.86) so that his total mileage

expense deduction would be $1,632.54 ($1,674.40 ! 41.86).

      Finally, petitioner incurred $278 for lodging (two nights at $139 each) while

waiting to gain access to his new residence. Expenses incurred following the date

of arrival at and while waiting for access to the new residence are not included

among those travel expenses delineated as allowable travel expense in these

circumstances. Sec. 217(b)(1)(B); sec. 1.217-2(b)(4), Income Tax Regs.
                                      -7-

      In summary, we hold that petitioner is entitled to a $2,810.54 moving

expense deduction under section 217, as follows:

                         Item                       Amount

            Transporting personal property         $1,632.54
            Rental of trailers                      1,000.00
            Storage of personal property              178.00
             Total moving expense deduction         2,810.54

      To reflect the foregoing,


                                            Decision will be entered

                                     under Rule 155.
