Temporary Job Location: First Job?

[Gary2]

In the second example my arguement is: if the teacher independently goes north for a summer job I don't see how it qualifies as a temporary assignment because she wasn't assigned there by an existing employer...she chose to take the job on her own. To me it would be a second job not a temp assignment. She may be doing the same work but this would be the same as anyone else who takes a second job doing the same work.

Yes, it's a second job, but that doesn't matter as far as it being deductible is concerned. It's still travel away from the tax home. See Pub. 463, page 3, center column, the example under "Main place of business or work."

The "temporary assignment" concept comes into play to determine whether or not there has been a change of tax home. But once you've determined the tax home, the rules for travel expenses away from the tax home apply, regardless of whether it's the same employer.

[FEDUKE404]

So what is a "temporary living expense" ?

Yes, it's a second job, but that doesn't matter as far as it being deductible is concerned. It's still travel away from the tax home. See Pub. 463, page 3, center column, the example under "Main place of business or work."

The "temporary assignment" concept comes into play to determine whether or not there has been a change of tax home. But once you've determined the tax home, the rules for travel expenses away from the tax home apply, regardless of whether it's the same employer.

To be sure I understand you correctly:

Are you saying that Joe, who is an auto mechanic in GA and decides he would like to spend a couple of months in ME working on a lobster boat, can deduct all of his "living expenses" there as temporary business expenses?

I would not care to support that position upon audit.

It's not really that different from a college student who lives/works part-time in MA and wants to work at her brother's restaurant in Miami for a couple of months during the summer.

Again, are you saying her "living expenses" in Miami would be deductible as a temporary business expense??

I've always felt the fine line was a temporary "assignment" (by an employer) to a distant location as opposed to, for whatever reasons, a job of indeterminable length.

FE

[taxea]

I agree with FED

[Gary2]

To be sure I understand you correctly:

Are you saying that Joe, who is an auto mechanic in GA and decides he would like to spend a couple of months in ME working on a lobster boat, can deduct all of his "living expenses" there as temporary business expenses?

That's not the precise conclusion I'm stating.

What I'm stating is that the job on the lobster boat, if it's known to be a one-time deal of known duration of a couple of months, does not change the tax home to Maine. I think that's pretty clear from the example in Pub. 463 that I cited.

Given that, what basis would there be for denying the deduction?

It's not really that different from a college student who lives/works part-time in MA and wants to work at her brother's restaurant in Miami for a couple of months during the summer.

It is different, given reasonable presumptions about the intent of your example). The auto mechanic in GA presumably has established a tax home in GA. The student in MA doesn't have a main place of business, just a succession of jobs, and isn't duplicating living expenses for business reasons. The living expenses at school, if any, are for educational, not business reasons, while the living expenses at home are generally borne by the parents.

The point being is that the key question is determining the tax home.

[FEDUKE404]

Still don't follow the logic

I still feel "temporary" expenses must be directly related to your primary job, e.g. you work for Firm A in Town X and you are assigned by the same firm to work in Town Y for a few months.

Such expenses are a business expense and not a mere living expense.

I am trying not to confuse this concept with any "tax home" or "union assignments" issues which are separate.

In a broad reading of your approach, it appears a person could take a series of short-term jobs, still maintain an address at his "tax home," and then basically deduct all living expenses along the way as business deductions. I don't think that dog will hunt very well.

OTOH, I have several friends in CA and I might consider going out there to work for a couple of months this summer, especially if I can deduct all of my food/lodging/travel.

Can you send me one of your business cards if the IRS does not like those substantial employee "business" deductions I would incur?

FE

[dtlee]

I have not always been convinced that this rule is clear, but I tend to agree with Gary.

The concept of a tax home is key. Without it, there can be no work away from the tax home and no temporary living expenses. I believe that a teacher who has a one year contract away from his/her tax home ceases to have temporary living expenses once the expectation exceeds a year. Thus, even though they may receive one-year contracts, they have established a tax home once they have decided to stay on beyond a year.

The point you bring up, FE, is probably more complicated. At some point in a series of short-term jobs, I believe you become a transient worker without a tax home, but have not given much thought as to precisely when that point happens.

I have a client whose tax home was in State A. He was relocated to another State B with the expectation of having a permanent job there. Even though the job did not last a year, he was not allowed temporary living expenses because the expectation was that it would last more than a year. He had bought a house there and had truly changed his residence. He took another job as a consultant there and after two years was not renewed. He had (in my mind) established by then a tax home in State B.

At that point, jobless with a house to pay for, he accepted a contract for 10 months in State C. He did not move to State C but rented a room to stay in during the week, returning home on weekends to State B (where he still worked part-time on weekends). I believe that he was eliigible for temporary living expenses in State C for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread. Now he is back to working full-time in State B and hoping to return to State A.

I was quite happy that he did not continue to work in State C nor find another temporary job in State D (nor State A).

For the original post, if the taxpayer is a full-time student, I do not believe that the taxpayer has established a tax home despite the part-time jobs mentioned. The taxpayer may claim moving expenses to get to the first job (assuming it lasts 39 weeks), but I think that he will not have a tax home until he has gone beyond a year at that location. If the teacher returns home to teach after a year to work in a more local school, the teacher will still not have a tax home.

[Gary2]

In a broad reading of your approach, it appears a person could take a series of short-term jobs, still maintain an address at his "tax home," and then basically deduct all living expenses along the way as business deductions. I don't think that dog will hunt very well.

Merely maintaining an address at an existing tax home doesn't preserve it. The question to ask is what changes a person from having a tax home with other jobs into being itinerant. Again, it's clear from the example in Pub. 463 that merely having two seasonal jobs, in two different locations, doesn't force a conclusion of being itinerant.

OTOH, I have several friends in CA and I might consider going out there to work for a couple of months this summer, especially if I can deduct all of my food/lodging/travel.

Of the three criteria for establishing a tax home in the absence of a main place of business, the key one (after reading into numerous cases), is the one that says "living expenses ... duplicate because your business requires ...." Going to visit friends, and picking up an odd job during the stay, doesn't change the personal reason for the vacation into a business reason for the food, lodging, or travel expenses.