Home Is Where Your Small Business Tax Deduction Is
Home office deduction is a plus, and a very lucrative one, for many entrepreneurs.
The deduction for using part of your home for business purposes - popularly known as the home office deduction - used to be something scary. It was widely believed that taking the deduction would automatically land you an IRS audit. That is no longer the case, especially since there are so many businesses being run out of homes, garages and apartments. But if you don't follow the rules and try to take too big a deduction, you could still draw the attention of IRS employees.
GET TO KNOW THE IRS RULES
Your home office should be used:
-Exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business, or
-Exclusively and regularly as a place where you meet or deal with patients, clients or customers in the normal course of your trade or business.
"Exclusively" refers to the requirement that the part of your home that you use for business cannot be used for personal reasons. The IRS doesn't require that it be a complete room in a house, or that the space you use be partitioned. It does require that your home office or workspace be a "separately identifiable space."
If your computer and papers are spread out on the dining room table and you put them away when it's time to eat, you can't take the deduction.
But if you have a corner of your family room that is clearly a home office, and your kids don't use it to do their homework, then you can qualify for the deduction.
MORE THAN ONE PLACE OF BUSINESS?
"Exclusively" does not mean your home office has to be the sole place where you do business. If you have a home office but need to rent space by the hour to see clients in a more business-like setting (away from the kids and barking dog), you can still deduct the expenses take the home office deduction.
But even if the bulk of your business activity takes place in another setting, you may still be able to take a home office deduction. IRS Publication 587, which can be downloaded from the agency's Web site, http://www.irs.gov, gives the hypothetical example of an anesthesiologist who does all of his administrative work at home and who is allowed to use the deduction.
WHAT CAN YOU DEDUCT?
Part of your expenses such as mortgage or rent, insurance, utilities, maintenance costs and repairs can be deducted. The IRS allows business owners to deduct the portion of their home expenses that can be attributed to the office or work area. The most commonly used method is to compute the percentage of your home's square footage that is devoted to the business, and then multiply that amount by what you've spent.
For example, if your home has 2,000 square feet and your office takes up 200 square feet, you can deduct 10 percent of your expenses.
The home office deduction also allows a business owner to take deductions that are not ordinarily available to homeowners, including depreciation on the home.
Wishing You Many Happy Returns,
