Home Office Tax Deduction | How to Write Off Home Expenses

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If you’re a freelancer, independent contractor, or self-employed person who works from home, you should be taking the home office tax deduction. Otherwise, you’re leaving money on the table at tax time.

In this video, we’ll go over the IRS rules for the home office deduction. These are much less restrictive than most self-employed people realize. In fact, a lot of them are overpaying in taxes because they don’t realize they’re eligible to write off home expenses — or because they’re afraid of an audit.

In this video, we’ll break down exactly what the IRS will and won’t allow so you can avoid stress while saving on your home expenses. The key things to know: you don’t have to be working out of a separate room, and you only have to use your home office once a week. If you only use it for part of the year, you can take the home office tax deduction for just those months. What you CAN’T do is claim the home office alongside a separate workspace — say, a studio lease or a coworking space— within the same month.

Once you’re clear on the rules for this tax break, we’ll get into how to take the home office deduction — including figuring out the percentage of your expenses you can deduct. Finally, we’ll talk about exactly which home expenses you can write off. (Spoiler alert: Even toilet paper can be a write-off!)

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro
02:19 - Who can write off a home office?
03:10 - Home office rules
06:18 - How much of your home expenses can you write off?
07:27 - What home office expenses can you write off?

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QUIZ: CAN I CLAIM HOME OFFICE EXPENSES?

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OTHER VIDEOS TO WATCH

[classydarktoys]

Thank you so much! I have been selling online for years and never used a single write off. I’m only 26 and I’m the first person in my family to work for myself so I am still learning. I cannot believe I didn’t know any of these! Thank you so so much you just saved me so much money. 😊

[Patriciamartinez-glio]

so in your example, you said 16% of the office space can be calm. How do you get a dollar amount of the 16%? Do you add all your utilities up and claim 16% of that? sorry I am a little confused. lol

[ynicrn]

Im a full time employee receiving a w2, opened my own online store, and stream games on Twitch under my LLC. I use my room to broadcast! Am i able to measure my work room, closet for storage, and hallway to the restroom? I am learning how to do write offs. Love the vids!! Thank you

[christhiel]

Great video. As a new small business owner at home, trying to learn all of this can be overwhelming 😆

[j.pejoro]

Thank you for all these information especially having your work desk in your bedroom. I thought the work area has to be a separate room. I'm so glad this doesn't have to be the case. You got me hooked on your channel Ma'am. I really enjoy tunning in.

[shericontrary]

is this available without bloopy noises?

[mallorykeyastrology]

Thank you!! This is Awesome and Clear! Appreciate your work. :)

[marciahowarddaniel]

Can deduct home office if you operate at a loss?

[qrm]

Thank you for your videos I have been searching about a month to have all this explained in a way I understood it. I have a Major question, in a comments section (someone else’s video) they posted that people need to be aware that if they claim a home office when you sell your home they will take a portion of your profit from selling the home because it means that your business owns a %. So people need to be weary if they are still paying a mortgage. So if you decide not to claim a home office because of this (planning to sell your home soon) can you still deduct other expenses such as wifi? Also do you recommend an excel sheet for trying income and expenses at least for beginners?

[Versastu]

Hello and thank you for these very informative videos, i wanted to ask wether or not it is allowed to utilize home deductions in a home that is in my parents name, i do operate out of my home office more than once a week and have an entire room as my work space/home office. However i am wondering if the home needs to be in my name to claim it as a write off for my small business which is an LLC with myself as the one and only sole proprietor. Please let me know any advice you may have, Thank you!

[writethevisionplan]

Yesss love it!! New subscriber alert! Getting some great infor for my taxes for next tesrr

[DaKoning]

You’re amazing. This presentation was brilliant.

[Living_Development]

If I use my office for my 9 to 5, but also use it for my business 24 hours a week, can I write this off? It seems like it'd be a shame to not be able write off my home office taxes because I use the same desk for my 9 to 5.

[everettgrant]

Sorry if I’m confused, but in some parts of this video you say “partial write off.” Where others you say, “write off.” Ie, when you were talking about writing off WiFi. It sounded like you were saying I can write off the whole Wi-Fi bill and not the calculated percentage. How do I know when to write the whole thing off, versus the percentage?

[georgelopez]

7:07 With the example that you gave, would you write 16% of every item? So rent 16%, wifi 16%, desk 16%, etc

[yesquired]

8:44 … how do I differentiate what I should claim 100% of in the app (versus the home-office space percentage)??

Does this mean that if I buy a home office chair, solely used in my home office for work, that I get the entire price of the office chair back? OR do I get my tax income bracket percentage deducted? Example) chair from office depot - $150 ; do I get $150 that I can claim? Or can I only claim $150 x [30%] ? (using 30% as my tax bracket)

[tatum]

Thanks so much! You mentioned rent write off, can you write off mortgage, or just insurance and property taxes?

[jhinton]

This was great! If you have 2 different 1099 businesses, one where you need a to rent a space and the other where you work from home, can you then claim both rent and home office expenses?

[milagrosguthrie]

Thank you for the great video. I have a question...I have a full time job and last year I started reselling on Poshmark and Mercari but I don't have a 1099. Could I use some of these write offs? I have a dedicated area for my business, inventory, packing, shipping expenses, etc.

[ZenRNMeliB]

Do the home office expenses need to be paid from a business account or can you pay from a personal account as well?