Here s what you need to know.
Home office deduction rent expense. Payments to your landlord count. If you operate from home these costs are part of a home office deduction. The amount you can deduct for work space in the home expenses is limited to the amount of employment income remaining after all other employment expenses have been deducted. The home office deduction is available for homeowners and renters and applies to all types of homes.
For more information go to income tax folio s4 f2 c2 business use of home expenses. If your office space is in a rented house or apartment where you live deduct the percentage of the rent and any maintenance costs you paid that relate to the work space. If you rent your home you can deduct the part of the rent and any expenses you incur that relate to the workspace. Simplified option for taxable years starting on or after january 1 2013 filed beginning in 2014 you now have a simplified option for computing the home office deduction irs revenue procedure 2013 13 january 15 2013.
The rent must be fair market value otherwise it isn t an ordinary and necessary business expense. The capital gain and recapture rules will apply if you deduct cca on the business use part of your home and you later sell your home. Depending on whether you own or lease your office space you can deduct your rent or mortgage interest costs. The tax rules on how to write off office expense deductions can be confusing.
You ll figure your deductions by prorating expenses by 20 or 200 1 000. To figure the home office qualifying expenses for homeowners may deduct from mortgage interest and real estate taxes. But that doesn t mean that renters are stuck.