You can claim moving expenses if you moved at least 40 kilometres closer to your work (owned by you or someone else) or school (university, college, or other post-secondary institution).
The CRA allows couples to split moving expenses, but it’s usually beneficial for the higher-earning spouse to claim them all.
Eligible expenses include:
- Transportation and storage costs
- Travel expenses
- Temporary living expenses (for up to 15 days) near your old and new homes
- The cost of cancelling the lease for your old home
- Incidental costs, such as changing your address on legal documents, replacing driving licences, and utility hookups and disconnections
- The cost to maintain your vacant old home while trying to sell it (up to $5,000)
- The cost of selling your old home, including advertising, real estate commission, and mortgage penalty
- The cost of buying the new home
For a detailed list, visit the CRA page on deductible moving expenses.
You can't claim:
- Moving expenses reimbursed by your employer
- Expenses for work done to improve your old home for selling
- Any loss from the sale of your home
- Travel expenses for house-hunting or job-hunting before your move
- The value of items movers refused to take
- Expenses to clean or repair a rented home
- Mail-forwarding costs
- Costs of transformers or adaptors for household appliances
- Costs incurred in the sale of your old home if you delayed selling until the real estate market improved
- Mortgage default insurance
For a detailed list, visit the CRA page on nondeductible moving expenses.
