Husband and Wife both work from home...

Posted by shhhhh22 on February 19, 2009, 8:41 am

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Hello all,

My wife and I are both Sole proprietors working from home. We file
jointly and file a schedule C and all that good stuff. This is the
first year my wife is a sole proprietor. Last year i was able to
deduct certain expenses proportionate to the square footage of my
office in relation to my house. expenses such as phone, insurance,
internet, mortgage, etc.

Now since my wife is working from home as sole proprietor as well, can
she deduct these same expenses? We file joint,

Thank you all,
Shhhhh

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Posted by Paul Thomas, CPA on February 19, 2009, 9:35 am

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> My wife and I are both Sole proprietors working from home. We file

> jointly and file a schedule C and all that good stuff. This is the

> first year my wife is a sole proprietor. Last year i was able to

> deduct certain expenses proportionate to the square footage of my

> office in relation to my house. expenses such as phone, insurance,

> internet, mortgage, etc.

> Now since my wife is working from home as sole proprietor as well, can

> she deduct these same expenses? We file joint,

As long as the space or spaces used for your and her business aren't used
for personal or non-business purposes, then the home office deduction is
allowed. You can't each take deductions for the same expense, but the total
"home office" allocation can be split between the two of you. In other
words, no double dipping.

If both of you use 20% of the house for business purposes, then you can
split that 20% between both your Schedule C businesses. I'd suggest by the
space you each use. So if you use 200sf and she uses 100sf, you'd get 2/3
of the home office expense and she'd get 1/3 of those costs.

You each file separate home office forms that tie back to each separate
Schedule C business.

--
Paul Thomas, CPA
Watkinsville, Georgia

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Posted by Stuart A. Bronstein on February 19, 2009, 9:43 am

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shhhhh22@gmail.com wrote:

> My wife and I are both Sole proprietors working from home. We file

> jointly and file a schedule C and all that good stuff. This is the

> first year my wife is a sole proprietor. Last year i was able to

> deduct certain expenses proportionate to the square footage of my

> office in relation to my house. expenses such as phone, insurance,

> internet, mortgage, etc.

> Now since my wife is working from home as sole proprietor as well,

> can she deduct these same expenses? We file joint,

The basic rule is that you can't deduct the same thing twice.

You say you file "a schedule C." Does that mean you are in the same
business? If so, your home office expenses are probably the same with
and without your wife, though if there are two desks now you might be
able to get a slighly higher deduction for rent or depreciation.

If you are in different businesses you need separate schedule C's. In
that case you can each take your share of the deductions, say one half
each. But again, you can't deduct the same things twice.

Stu

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<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
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Posted by removeps-groups@yahoo.com on February 22, 2009, 2:32 pm

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wrote:

> If you are in different businesses you need separate schedule C's. In

> that case you can each take your share of the deductions, say one half

> each. But again, you can't deduct the same things twice.

What if they have different businesses, and use the same space? Do
the rules say that the deduction for business B1 is only possible if
the space is used exclusively for business B1?

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Posted by Steve Pope on February 22, 2009, 5:38 pm

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>> If you are in different businesses you need separate schedule C's. In

>> that case you can each take your share of the deductions, say one half

>> each. But again, you can't deduct the same things twice.

>What if they have different businesses, and use the same space? Do

>the rules say that the deduction for business B1 is only possible if

>the space is used exclusively for business B1?

Correct, unless they've changed it in the past few years.

Steve

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
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<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
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<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
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