Working from home

[Tikitoi]

So my job has been talking about this for a while, and now the time has come for it to happen. It will be the first of the year. They will give us a one time stipened (?) money amount. This is for whatever we need to buy as far as furnishings for our "office".

So what I am wondering about is can this money go towards a tax write off? Also the usage of my electricity and internet and phone services can these also go towards a tax write off? If so, is it based on how many hours you work, how much you make, etc. Any info is helpful.

TIA

 

[scrapquitler]

So my job has been talking about this for a while, and now the time has come for it to happen. It will be the first of the year. They will give us a one time stipened (?) money amount. This is for whatever we need to buy as far as furnishings for our "office".

So what I am wondering about is can this money go towards a tax write off? Also the usage of my electricity and internet and phone services can these also go towards a tax write off? If so, is it based on how many hours you work, how much you make, etc. Any info is helpful.

TIA

Home office deduction. Our accountant handles this for us, so I'm not exactly sure of the details, but you can only deduct the costs for your 'office' if you use that portion of your home exclusively for work (so you aren't supposed to use it as a guest room or for watching tv, for example) I know that I had to tell the accountant how big our home office is (square footage) and how big our house is (square footage) then I list the total expenses for the year for hone, internet, electricity, etc. and he subtracts the appropriate percentage.

I suggest you google "Home office deduction" on the IRS website to get clarification of what you can/cannot do.

 

[Dasha]

If you deduct the actual office space by depreciating it, know that when you sell the house you'll have to tax implications to worry about. If you rent, the deduction is straightforward.

 

[daniele_ut]

I work from home and my company pays me a stipend each month to compensate me for the use of my home. It's much more straightforward than the home office deduction because we use my office for more than just an office.

 

[Disflyer]

The money the company provides you for furnishing your office is essentially the same as if they were paying you a lump sum for a move. The money is not taxed as income and therefore anything you purchase with those funds cannot be deducted a second time as money you paid out of pocket.

For examlple. You are given a check for $10,000 to purchase all necessary items for your office. If you purchase $12,500 worth of equipment only the $2,500 spent can be used to calculate your deduction since that is what your personal out of pocket expense is.

wait for the disclaimer. The above post is only intended for illustrative purposes. Check with your tax advisor for further details, etc, etc, etc...

 

[ancestry]

The home office deduction is a tricky tax deduction. You have to meet certain specific criteria in order to take it.

I am self employed, work from home, and teach online at a major university (while sitting in my PJ's) and don't take the home office deduction. If I recall part of the issue was that I don't have a separate room for my office as we still have too many kids living at home and don't have enough bedrooms as it is. My office is in my regular bedroom (we have a huge bedroom).

 

[a1tinkfans]

Are you going to be 1099'd? HUGE implications..............be sure you know exactly what your status will be.
There are home office deductions you can take as others have mentioned,
but 5 years BEFORE you are even thinking about making a physical move, you need to STOP the deductions OUCH because you will have tax issues otherwise..
You really need an accountant to set it all out for you.
Best of Luck!

 

[Snoozan]

My DH has worked from home the past 3 years and has decided it's not feasible to take the home office deduction. Also, my DBIL was taking the home office deduction when he was working from home and he ended up being audited by the state. Just be aware, this is a flag when filing your state and federal taxes.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I have a home office that is used exclusively for my business. We have done the home office deduction for the past two years. You figure the square footage of your office versus the whole house. We haven't had any issues nor were we aware there was anything tricky about it, but we do have a very good accountant that handles all of this for us so maybe that's why.

 

[Tikitoi]

I've checked the IRS site and also from reading the responses here, I don't think the home office deduction applies to me.

I work from home and my company pays me a stipend each month to compensate me for the use of my home. It's much more straightforward than the home office deduction because we use my office for more than just an office.

Also, this sounds more like my arrangement with my employer. While we will receive a one lump sum stipend amount, they will also pay us a little something extra per month for our telephone usage.

Thank you for the responses.