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Can I deduct rent if own a home in one state, and rent an apartment where I currently work in another state?

I currently live (own a home) in St. Louis but I recently got a job in Chicago and have decided to rent an apartment rather than live out of a suitcase. I still live in St. Louis and travel back and forth about twice a month. What all, if any, am I allowed to deduct... rent from my chicago apartment?... travel expenses?

Public Comments

1. I don't believe you can deduct unless you are actually doing a full move. Is it an option to do that and possibly rent out your home in St Louis?
2. mortgage interest, property taxes, maintenece expenses, management expenses, advertising, depreciation..... just for starters. Do youself a favor and pick up a tax booklet on rental property income. Not sure which pub. # it is but you can go to www.irs.gov and look it up easily. You can even download or have it faxed to you.
3. Each city in the US has an allowable rate of deduction for each day you work there. The amount depends on the cost of living, but it's very generous. The limit for being temporary is one year though. If you go past one year, you would be liable for any back taxes due when the deduction becomes no longer valid. The odds of being audited are slim, but they do use auditing software to look for the exact differences causes by per diem shiftover. They can then go compare your address and find out if you moved or not, and if you ammended your return. It's best to not use this deduction for working away from home unless you are absolutely sure that you'll be temporary under one year. Your better option might be to rent your home, then deduct the cost of checking on it as a business expense, since you would indeed need to be keeping an eye on renters if you lived in another state. I'm not a tax person, but that's what I've learned. Hopefully a tax person will throw in their two cents on this. good luck
4. No you cannot. You can deduct moving expenses for a job, but your not living expenses (moving Co. not security deposit or rent payments). You can deduct the space if you only use it for business, which you are not. You may consider buying in Chicago and then you can deduct interest, points, and taxes on both properties. Unless this is a short term assignment.