You are allowed a tax deduction for the unreimbursed costs of moving household goods and personal effects for you and your household members from your previous residence to your new foreign job or business location. You can also deduct the transportation and lodging costs (not including meals) for one trip by yourself and your household members from your old home to your new home. In addition you can deduct the expenses of storing your household goods and personal effects for the duration of your foreign job location.

The new rules are quite specific. Most other expenses associated with a move that were formerly allowed are no longer allowed under the current rules.

There are 2 preliminary rules that apply in general to a deduction for foreign moving expenses:

* The move must be to a location where you started to work within 12 months of the move.

* As an employee you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months after arrival in the new job location. If self-employed you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and a total of at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after your arrival in the new general job location.

These requirements are normally easily met when your transfer abroad is to a new permanent location at the request of your U.S. employer. However if you should move abroad and then seek employment or become self-employed these rules would apply to the deductibility of your moving expenses.
Moving expenses allocable to excluded foreign earned income and housing exclusion are not allowed as a deduction. This calculation can be a bit complex if under the IRS rules the moving expenses are considered to be attributable to income earned in 2 years. In this case a percentage is calculated of the total excludable income to the total foreign earned income in the 2 years and applied to the moving expenses to determine the nondeductible portion of the moving expenses.

Special rules apply to deductible moving expenses of retirees and surviving spouses moving back to the U.S.
For more information see—
IRS Publication 521—Moving Expenses
IRS Publication 54 –Tax Guide For U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad