Tax Deductions The I.R.S. Should Allow

You won't hear me express political opinions as my job is to entertain you, talk about the great new country music we play and keep you up to date with any crucial information (eg. traffic accidents, weather). But I'm having to pay taxes for something that I think conservatives and liberals alike would probably agree is wrong.

I moved to Billings in November and as most companies do when they relocate new employees, Townsquare Media put me up at a local hotel. Now I'm having to pay taxes on the 3 week hotel stay which is being called a "taxable benefit" by the government. In the meantime my family, who will move here in June, is still living in our home in California. So I have to pay on that mortgage, my current rent and the taxes for the hotel stay when I first arrived.

My gripe is that I don't think a hotel stay that is part of the relocation process, should be considered income. With so many people re-entering the workforce after a long bout of unemployment relocating and sending for their families after the fact, it seems unfair to add taxes to what is already a very expensive proposition. If the Internal Revenue Service is going to tax an employer provided hotel stay then they should at least allow you to deduct the cost of a rental while you and your family are living in two different cities during a transition.