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When workers were sent home during the pandemic, things got complicated. People hunkered down in vacation homes, or their parents’ house two states away, or some other location that wasn’t in their home state. This spurred a lot of temporary tax rules, most of which how do taxes work for remote jobs have expired. But five states — Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania – now have a “convenience” tax rule that allows the state where a business is located to tax a remote worker who lives in another state, without providing the tax credit.
- Qualified expenses include professional development courses, books, supplies, computer equipment, related software and services, supplementary materials and more.
- All of that may make you wonder whether you can claim a home office tax deduction for your expenses on your federal income tax return.
- In fact, if you are self-employed, or have a freelance side gig and work from home, the best “tax break” you can get is to hire a tax accountant.
- Meanwhile, let’s say you work out of your home office 95% of the time, and you occasionally work for an hour at your local Starbucks to get a change of scenery.
But you would pass the test if your employer doesn’t provide you with an office, or if there is some valid business reason why you must work at home. In one case, for example, an employee was entitled to the home office deduction because her employer required her to perform work during off-hours when her regular office was closed. If an eligible taxpayer decides to use the simplified deduction method, they can use the number of months they worked from home to prorate the amount they can deduct. They can also choose to deduct a portion of actual expenses for the months they were eligible for the deduction. While the simplified option may be easier, you could be losing out on some additional deductions by not using the standard method. However, the standard method requires more in-depth work, requiring you to calculate all your actual expenses and keep a record of all receipts.
What is the process for taking the deduction?
While employees who now work remotely may feel like they’re missing out, the home-office deduction isn’t generally leading to outsized savings for those who take it. In the simplified version, you can take $5 per square foot of your home office up to 300 square feet, giving the method a $1,500 cap. There are two ways eligible taxpayers can calculate the home-office deduction. The tax break is generally only for those who are self-employed, gig workers or independent contractors, not those who are employed by a company that gives them a W-2 come tax season. If you have traveled to another state (or several) and worked while there, you may owe taxes in the state where you worked, even if you weren’t there for the whole year.
To get the biggest deduction possible, you may need to calculate your deduction using both the direct and simplified methods to see which one comes out ahead for your taxes. Get unlimited advice, an expert final review and your maximum refund, guaranteed with Live Assisted Basic. Self-employed business owners can deduct up to $1,080,000 (for tax year 2022) for qualified business equipment like computers, printers, and office furniture. The amount you can deduct is still limited to the amount of income from business activity. You can also deduct supplies that you buy like paper, printer ink, or supplies for your customers, and you can take the home office deduction.
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We want you to get every deduction you deserve—so you’ll have more cash in your pocket to get out of debt, save for an emergency fund, and win with money. In fact, the home office deduction is the biggest tax option for self-employed workers, said Anna Barker, founder of LogicalDollar, and an attorney who advises clients on tax matters. The catch is the portion of your home must be “used exclusively and regularly for business purposes,” Barker said, it’s not just a matter of setting up the laptop on the kitchen counter and calling it an office. You can claim the deduction whether you rent or own your home, and regardless of whether you live in a house, apartment or condo. You cannot claim it, however, if you’ve been holed up for the past year in a hotel room or other temporary housing.
Their taxes will be much higher than in the past, particularly if they did not adjust their withholdings accordingly. If you’ve been working from home in the same place you normally live, nothing will change for your taxes this year. You’ll file your taxes as you always have and will either owe money based on your withholdings for the year or receive a tax refund. “Generally, the rule is, if it’s a necessary and ordinary expense related to your W-2 job, then you can deduct it from your taxable income,” Garofalo says. If your home office expenses are more than your business income for the year, your deduction will be limited, as you cannot make your Schedule C income go below zero using business use of home expenses. For both methods, the home office deduction can only be used if the portion of the residence is used exclusively and consistently for business purposes.