Of all the tax breaks available the home office tax deduction is among the murkiest and most misunderstood.
Home office description tax purposes. It is available for office space and other areas you use for business in your home such as a studio workshop or garage. Income tax deductions you re allowed to take if your home office passes the exclusive use text needed to qualify for the deduction entrepreneur small business encyclopedia. In this publication you will find. Requirements for qualifying to deduct expenses including special rules for storing inventory or product samples.
And according to the irs your home can be a house condo or apartment unit or even a mobile home or boat as long as you can cook and sleep there. The home office deduction is available to renters and homeowners alike. Linus uses his home office including the desk and chair for both work and private purposes. A space that is used only a few times per year will not be considered a home office by the irs even if the space is.
The irs home office rules say it may be a separately identifiable space and that permanent partitions are not necessary to mark off that space. He keeps the required records to show how he calculates his claim. For a full explanation of tax deductions for your home office refer to publication 587 business use of your home. Most who qualify for a home office deductions will want to take it but you always want to be aware of the potential pitfalls such as an increased likelihood of an audit and a possible increase in your capital gains tax when you sell your home if you don t use the simplified method.
As with anything else taking a home office deduction has its pros and cons. In this publication you will find. Under previous law the home office deduction generally was available to those who maintained a dedicated space in their homes that they used solely and exclusively for business purposes. Home office definition is a room in a person s house where he or she does office work.
Furthermore the space must be used on a regular basis for business purposes.