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Subject Author Date
A different Home Office question Bob 04-17-2006
Posted by Bob on April 17, 2006, 10:35 pm
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 A home office is an area that must be used exclusively for
business. But, on my tax return I claim only 75% business
use of my computer and printer. Have I just shot down my
home office deductions by basically admitting on Form 4562
that I've spent time in my home office performing
non-business activity? All assuming that I'm not going to
take the unbelievable position that I remove the computer
from the home office when I use it for personal tasks, thus
preserving the "exclusively for business" character of the
home office.

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Posted by effi on April 19, 2006, 12:18 am
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> A home office is an area that must be used exclusively for
> business. But, on my tax return I claim only 75% business
> use of my computer and printer. Have I just shot down my
> home office deductions by basically admitting on Form 4562
> that I've spent time in my home office performing
> non-business activity? All assuming that I'm not going to
> take the unbelievable position that I remove the computer
> from the home office when I use it for personal tasks, thus
> preserving the "exclusively for business" character of the
> home office.

theoretcally it's possible you could have used your computer
and printer 75% for business at a location outside your home
office

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by San Diego CPA on April 19, 2006, 12:37 am
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> A home office is an area that must be used exclusively for
> business. But, on my tax return I claim only 75% business
> use of my computer and printer. Have I just shot down my
> home office deductions by basically admitting on Form 4562
> that I've spent time in my home office performing
> non-business activity? All assuming that I'm not going to
> take the unbelievable position that I remove the computer
> from the home office when I use it for personal tasks, thus
> preserving the "exclusively for business" character of the
> home office.

doesn't sound like "exclusive and regular business use" test
is met, therefore, no depreciation of home office space.
tests for deductible home office expenses are tough hurdles
to clear

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Bob on April 20, 2006, 3:44 pm
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San Diego CPA wrote:

>> A home office is an area that must be used exclusively for
>> business. But, on my tax return I claim only 75% business
>> use of my computer and printer. Have I just shot down my
>> home office deductions by basically admitting on Form 4562
>> that I've spent time in my home office performing
>> non-business activity? All assuming that I'm not going to
>> take the unbelievable position that I remove the computer
>> from the home office when I use it for personal tasks, thus
>> preserving the "exclusively for business" character of the
>> home office.

> doesn't sound like "exclusive and regular business use" test
> is met, therefore, no depreciation of home office space.
> tests for deductible home office expenses are tough hurdles
> to clear

I don't care about depreciation. I'm thinking more about the
commuting test e.g. treating driving from my home office to
my first business destination of the day as deductible
business mileage.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Stuart A. Bronstein on April 23, 2006, 1:24 am
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> San Diego CPA wrote:

>>> A home office is an area that must be used exclusively for
>>> business. But, on my tax return I claim only 75% business
>>> use of my computer and printer. Have I just shot down my
>>> home office deductions by basically admitting on Form 4562
>>> that I've spent time in my home office performing
>>> non-business activity?

>> doesn't sound like "exclusive and regular business use" test
>> is met, therefore, no depreciation of home office space.
>> tests for deductible home office expenses are tough hurdles
>> to clear

> I don't care about depreciation. I'm thinking more about the
> commuting test e.g. treating driving from my home office to
> my first business destination of the day as deductible
> business mileage.

First the code doesn't require "exclusive use." The exact
phrase is "exclusively used on a regular basis". The phrase
"on a regular basis" would be useless if they really meant
to require completely exclusive use. So there's an argument
that, as long as you use it exclusively for business
regularly 75% of the time, it's still ok.

Next, there are some parts of the home office that do not
need to comply with the "exclusive use" requirement. If the
home is the sole business location, any storage space for
inventory or product samples can be deducted whether they
meet the exclusive use test or not.

To me that implies you can have a legitimate home office
even if it doesn't qualify for deductibility.

Stu

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

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