You can't claim a deduction for removal or relocation costs.
This is the case even if relocating is a condition of your employment when you take up:
- a transfer in an existing job
- a new job with a different employer.
Removal and relocation expenses never have a sufficient connection to earning your employment income or income producing activities. You incur these expenses to start earning employment income, so they are private or domestic expenses.
If you receive an allowance from your employer to cover some of the costs of relocating, you must declare the allowance as assessable income in your tax return.
You can't claim a deduction for removal or relocation costs to transfer or relocate for work purposes.