The amount of moving expense reimbursement the University will provide must be approved by the Vice Provost for Faculties and specified in the offer letter. The Provost Office will pay for actual moving expenses, not expenses incurred while looking for housing or temporary lodging necessitated by the move.
As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the federal tax payer deduction for qualified moving expenses of household goods no longer exists. Employee reimbursements for moving expenses, and payments to third party vendors made on their behalf, (e.g., to a moving company) are now treated as taxable income subject to income and payroll taxes. Payments made to third party vendors will be included in the annual W-2 as part of federal and state wages. Reimbursements paid directly to the employee will be issued as supplemental pay, with both Federal and Massachusetts taxes withheld. Massachusetts still allows for the deductibility of qualified moving expenses (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moving-expense-deduction), and employees are responsible for taking the appropriate deductions in their Massachusetts tax returns the year the payments are made.
REIMBURSABLE MOVING EXPENSES
Boston College will pay for the reasonable costs of moving household goods and personal effects belonging to the employee and other members of their household from the former home to the new home. These costs may include:
- Packing
- Crating
- Moving household goods and personal effects
- In-transit storage
- Insurance costs
- And the following if incurred within 30 days of the move:
- Disconnecting/connecting utilities (excluding cable/internet)
- Shipping cars or pets
- Travel expenses incurred during the move from former home to new home--expenses must be reasonable, travel route must be shortest and most direct, lodging is included but meal expenses are not. Travel by automobile will be reimbursed at $0.21 per mile (plus parking fees and tolls) or for actual expenses such as gas and oil.
MOVING EXPENSES WHICH ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REIMBURSEMENT:
These expenses are not reimbursable by Boston College:
- Meals while moving from your old residence to your new residence
- Meals and lodging while occupying temporary quarters in the area of your new job
- Real estate expenses connected with the sale, purchase, or lease of former and new residences.
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES
Complete the following BC Expense Report form. Scan all receipts and email them along with the signed and completed BC Expense Report form to Shaylonda Martin (shaylonda.martin@bc.edu) in the Provost’s Office. Retain the original receipts for your own tax records.
Please email Shaylonda Martin if you have any questions.