Did your “Great Resignation” lead you to start a business or become your own boss this year?
You may be able to write off the cost of your home office come tax time.
“Knowing that you’re not a 9-to-5 [worker] anymore, you can now take advantage of the home-office deduction,” said Sheneya Wilson, CPA and founder of Fola Financial in New York, adding that it’s one of the biggest deductions that people who work out of their homes can take.
Here’s who can claim the deduction
There are some parameters when it comes to who is eligible for the home-office deduction, even though millions of Americans worked from home this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The tax break is generally only for those who are self-employed, gig workers or independent contractors, not those who are employed by a company that gives them a W-2 come tax season.
“Employees who receive a paycheck or a W-2 exclusively from an employer are not eligible for the deduction, even if they are currently working from home,” the IRS said in a September 2020 reminder on the home-office deduction.
There may be some confusion, as the home-office deduction was previously allowed for employees. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, however, banned such workers from taking the deduction from 2018 to 2025.
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To claim the home-office deduction in 2021, taxpayers must exclusively and regularly use part of their home or a separate structure on their property as their primary place of business. This includes a place where you greet clients or customers, conduct your business, store inventory, rent out or use as a daycare facility.
You don’t have to be a homeowner to claim the deduction — apartments are eligible, as are mobile homes, boats or other similar properties, according to the IRS.
It’s also possible to take only part of the deduction. For example, if you left a 9-to-5 job, started your own business in 2021 and use your home as your primary office space, you may be able to claim the deduction for part of the year, according to Wilson.
How the deduction works
There are two ways that eligible taxpayers can calculate the home-office deduction.
In the simplified version, you can take $5 per square foot of your home office up to 300 square feet, giving the method a $1,500 cap.
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