Qualifying for a home-office deduction can actually be quite easy.
All you have to do is:
- Use the office exclusively for your business
- Completely avoid personal use of the office
But what happens if you want to run a second business from your home office, or share the office with your spouse?
That’s where things get complicated!
If you want to avoid losing your home-office deduction and make sure you’re on the right side of the law, take my advice and read my new article titled Tax Tips: Home Office with More than One Business or Spouse Invasion!
Three ways our fact-filled article can help you:
- You’ll learn how to legally add a second business to your home office. In the precedent-setting Hamacher case, the tax court ruled that you can deduct a home office used for more than one business. BUT … all business uses of the home office must pass the tests for a qualified home-office deduction. If either business fails the tests, the home-office deduction is disallowed. We’ll give you all the details when you read the full article.
- We’ll explain the rules governing a spouse’s use of your home office. If you are married, all uses of your home office by your spouse must be deductible uses or the office fails the “exclusive use” test. You’ll get all the important details when you read the full article.
- You’ll learn what the IRS audit guide has to say. The IRS MSSP Training Guide makes clear to its audit personnel that a taxpayer’s failure to win the home-office deduction generally calls for disallowing some business mileage (since trips from home to downtown office are now personal trips). You’ll get the whole story when you read the full article.
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