Telecommuters May Qualify For Tax Break
Posted February 6, 2008
In 2006, more than 12 million U.S. employees worked from a remote location at least one day a month, up from 7.6 million in 2004, according to the latest report from WorldatWork. Toss in self-employed individuals, and the number of work at home employees rises to nearly 29 million, or about 20% of the workforce.
Many newer telecommuters wonder if they can qualify for a home-office deduction. The first basic test is if you use the space regularly and exclusively for business. But “exclusively” doesn’t necessarily mean an entire room.
Instead, business deductions are based on the percentage of your home that is used for business. So if your office occupies 10% of your home, you could deduct 10% of your household expenses, including utility bills, insurance, maintenance, property taxes and mortgage interest, plus any direct costs such as painting the walls.
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