There are rules about what qualifies as a home office, what qualifies as a deductible expense, and what method should be used to calculate the deduction assuming those rules and qualifications are met.

This guide and checklist, written by Mark W. Kaelin for TechRepublic Premium, will help you navigate the twists and turns of those regulations to arrive at a correct, clear, explainable, and defensible home office deduction amount.

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  QUALIFIED EXPENSES

  For the purposes of the home office deduction, expenses for the business use of a home office normally include the business portion of real estate taxes, mortgage interest, rent, casualty losses, utilities, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, and repairs. In general, you are not allowed to deduct expenses for the parts of your home not used for business. For example, expenses for lawn care or painting a room not used for business don’t qualify. Separate and exclusively used business expenses such as broadband connections and smartphones will also qualify as deductible expenses.

Enhance your handling of expenses with our six-page PDF and spreadsheet. This is available for download at just $19. Alternatively, enjoy complimentary access with a Premium annual subscription.

TIME SAVED: Crafting this content required 14 hours of dedicated writing, editing, research, and design.