Taxes on Temporary Housing

November 9, 2007 10:02 AM

Question related to taxes on paid relocation expenses.

I joined a company in San Francisco in October and they paid for my moving expenses and temporary housing in a furnished apartment for 2 months.

The total taxable amount for temporary housing is about $7000. The tax rate (including Federal, State, etc) is 42.96%. That works out to about $3000.

So far, so good. I was aware that I would be taxed and taxed at this rate and that isn't a problem.

However, I got an email from the payroll manager today saying that they would have to deduct the taxes from the remaining three checks of this year (we are paid bi-weekly.) That is 1000 bucks each check.

My question is this: Is there any way such that the $7000 is reflected on my W-2 but I pay the taxes on that amount when I file my return next year?

I asked the payroll manager and he said no, the taxes had to be paid before the end of the year and they had to come out of the next three paychecks. He said that he could defer it by one paycheck at the most but that the total tax due would have to be paid before the end of the year.

Is this correct, or do I have other options?

Thank you for your time and help!

posted by hellhammer to work & money (2 answers total)

Wow, sounds like you got a shitty offer and relo package. Some companies "gross up" relocation expenses, where they pay the taxes incurred on relocation expenses and then report the relocation expenses and the gross up amount on the W2. I have no idea why yours didn't. I thought a gross up was standard, you could try renegotiating their crap package. Ask around to other relocated employees and see what they did.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:45 AM on November 9, 2007

Thanks, crazycanuck.

The comprehensive offer was actually very good but I do agree that the taxes on the relocation package sucks.

What really pisses me off though is that they tell me right now that the deductions need to be made before the end of the calendar year. If they had told me that when I joined two months ago, I'd have had them start the deductions from my first package so the hit on each paycheck would be less.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out what my options are. If I don't have any, I guess I'll just have to fork it all over right now.

Thanks for your input!
posted by hellhammer at 5:15 PM on November 9, 2007