As of April, I have become an Applied Anywhere employee which means my office is a 192 sq ft former bedroom in my house. I would like to start a discussion on tax related issues to having an office in your house that is dictated by your employer, not just a nice to have room. Edited to change the subject to be more descriptive
Sorry, I had a 1 p.m. teleconference and had to finish that post in a hurry. I have had an office in my house for the last 22+ years. It has not been required by my employer until April of this year. I was notified in November last year that this was coming. In April, I received my Cisco wireless router and VoIP desk phone. I already owned a Color Laser Multi-Function Printer (MFP) for scanning, copying, printing, and faxing. I cleaned out my Dilbert cubicle on 5-Apr and have worked from home, or a travel location, ever since. I have a complete office set up in the house and now am curious about the tax benefit of having to supply said office. Anyone happen to be in this same situation, or maybe a business owner that enjoys tax advantages of maintaining an office in your home?
The only thing I can remember is that claiming a home/office deduction is very tricky and highly likely to trigger an investigation/audit by the IRS. I do believe that if you have a home/office that it has to be just that..for work only. I believe that if you use partly for home/pleasure activiites that you can't deduct. It must be exclusively used for business. I would think that someone at APM would have a package on the in's and out's of getting a tax deduction for a home/office.
Their answer is to consult a tax attorney. I have plenty of time to make my decision so I thought that the resident attorneys here might have an idea or two.
And, by the way, I have absolutely nothing to hide so if it is a legitimate deduction, and it triggers an audit, bring it on IRS. Even my charity deductions are backed up by church, fire department, and United Way receipts.
My only comment as a non-CPA, non-attorney is that there clearly is a deuction there for space and utilities, but you can learn the details from a tax accountant.