Tap Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Dh may be offered a new job where he will have only a home office. There will be some travel to other states involved but not a lot. We are looking at his compensation package and looking for all the little advantages to add up to see what is really being offered. I have heard that some people can claim a home office as a tax write off, but is that still true if you work for someone else? What advantages are there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Dh may be offered a new job where he will have only a home office. There will be some travel to other states involved but not a lot. We are looking at his compensation package and looking for all the little advantages to add up to see what is really being offered. I have heard that some people can claim a home office as a tax write off, but is that still true if you work for someone else? What advantages are there? His home office has to be used "regularly and exclusively" for business to qualify for the deduction. Assuming he will be an employee rather than an independent contractor, the deduction will be an employee business expense, which is included in miscellaneous itemized deductions. If you don't itemize or total misc itemized deductions are less than 2% of your adjusted gross income, there will be no benefit from the home office deduction. Expenses that can be included are: Depreciation Utilities Homeowner's insurance Repairs A 2nd phone line (no portion of the base cost of the first line is deductible) Long distance expense Security service It seems to me that lawn care and groundskeeping is specifically excluded. To calculate the deductible portion of depreciation, utilities, etc, you would take the square footage of the office / square footage of the house = % used for office. If your dh is being paid as a contractor rather than employee, the home office expense is deductible on Schedule C rather than as an itemized deduction and the 2% floor is not applicable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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