N-139: Moving Expenses (2025)
Hawaii · Hawaii DoTax · Used for tax years 2025
Hawaii Form N-139 calculates your moving expense deduction for a move related to starting work at a new principal workplace. It reports moving and travel expenses, employer reimbursements, and the resulting deduction for Form N-11 or N-15.
Who files this form
Use Form N-139 to figure a moving expense deduction for a move related to starting work at a new principal workplace. Employees and self-employed people may qualify. Use a separate form for each qualifying move.
Your move must be closely related in time and place to starting work. Generally, you must meet both tests:
- Distance test: Your new workplace must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old workplace was. If you had no old workplace, the new workplace must be at least 50 miles from your old home.
- Time test: Employees must work full time in the new workplace's general area for at least 39 weeks during the 12 months immediately after moving. Self-employed people must work full time there for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months.
Exceptions apply, including for certain Armed Forces moves and qualifying retirees or survivors moving to Hawaii from outside the United States.
Nonresidents cannot deduct expenses for moving to a new workplace outside Hawaii. This also applies if you leave Hawaii for other than temporary or transitory purposes and are no longer domiciled in Hawaii, ending your Hawaii residency.
What you'll need
Have these details and records available to complete the form:
- Your name as shown on Form N-11 or N-15 and your Social Security number.
- Your move date and the addresses of your old home, old workplace, and new workplace.
- Distances from your old home to each workplace and the number of weeks you worked at the new workplace.
- Amounts paid for moving and storing household goods and personal effects, plus travel and lodging costs.
- Your Form HW-2 or federal Form W-2 and information about employer reimbursements.
The instructions say to keep records to verify vehicle expenses. If you are unsure whether your employer's reimbursement plan is accountable or nonaccountable, ask your employer.
If you sold your main home in 2025, you must also file Form N-103 to report the sale.
Common mistakes
- Including excluded costs: Do not include meals, sightseeing trips, househunting expenses, or moving expenses for employees such as a maid, nanny, or nurse.
- Claiming multiple travel trips: You may include only one trip per household member, although household members do not have to travel together.
- Misreporting reimbursements: Line 7 generally includes employer payments under an accountable plan that are not included in wages. Enter zero for payments under a nonaccountable plan.
- Including government-provided services: Armed Forces members must not include government-provided moving or storage services on lines 4 and 5, or their value on line 7.
- Filing unnecessarily for storage fees: Do not file N-139 if you moved in an earlier year, claim only storage fees during your absence from the United States, and any employer payment for those fees is included in federal Form W-2 wages. Instead, enter the fees on Form N-11, line 18, if not already included on line 7, or Form N-15, line 25, and write “Storage” next to the amount.
Questions people ask
Can I claim the deduction before meeting the time test?
Yes, if you expect to meet it. If you later fail to meet it, you must either amend the return for the year you claimed the deduction or report the deduction amount that reduced your tax as income for the year you cannot meet the test.
How do I calculate costs for using my own vehicle?
Use either actual out-of-pocket gas and oil expenses or 21¢ per mile. You may add parking fees and tolls under either method. Keep records to verify your expenses.
Are Armed Forces moves subject to the distance and time tests?
Not if the move is due to a permanent change of station. This includes a move connected with and within one year of retirement or other termination of active duty.
What if my employer's reimbursement is as much as my eligible expenses?
If line 6 is not more than line 7, you cannot claim a moving expense deduction. If line 7 exceeds line 6, report the difference on Form N-11, line 10, if not already included on line 7, or on Form N-15, line 7.
Where do I enter the deduction on my Hawaii return?
Enter the line 8 deduction in whole dollars on Form N-11, line 18, if not already included on line 7, or on Form N-15, line 25.