Smith, Sullivan & Brown, PC    March 2014             

Work from Home? - A Simplified Home Office Deduction
 
Do you work at home or have a home-based business? If so, you should be aware that the IRS has created a simpler option for calculating the deduction for the business use of your home. The new option makes record keeping easier because, instead of maintaining records of specific home office expenses, you can use a standard rate per square foot.  The rate is $5 per square foot (up to a maximum of 300 sq. feet or $1,500) for qualifying business use space in place of taking a pro rata percentage of items such as mortgage interest, taxes and repairs.

 

Keep in mind there are good and bad aspects to this "simpler" method.  The new method gives you back your full interest and tax deduction on schedule A, but you will lose your depreciation and loss carryover deductions. Of course, you must still use your home office regularly and exclusively for business. This may be a welcome relief for some taxpayers, but it might not be the best choice for others. Is it the right choice for you?  

 

Please contact us for answers to all your financial questions.

 


How Will the End of Some Popular Credits and Deductions Affect Your Business? 


Did you know that bonus 50% first-year depreciation will no longer be available to your business in 2014 and beyond? And that the Section 179 expensing limit, which allows you to deduct qualified costs immediately instead of expensing them over time, will tumble to $25,000 from $500,000, where it's been for the last four years? These are just a few of the changes that businesses should prepare for this year. While many tax rules are permanent, others are written to expire at some point in the future. Some are extended and given new deadlines, but a significant number of popular "extenders" terminated at the end of 2013, including both business credits and deductions.

 

How will the end of these and other credits or deductions affect you? And what other tax law changes could have an impact on your company finances?     

 

Contact us to find out the answers. We offer the advice and planning recommendations you need to minimize your tax bill and enhance your business's financial situation.  



Partners, Smith, Sullivan and Brown

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