As part of ongoing efforts by the
Administration to reduce paperwork burdens, the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) announced today that it is providing a new, simpler option for
calculating the home office tax deduction, allowing small business
owners and employees who work from home and who maintain a qualifying
home office to deduct up to $1,500 per year.
The IRS also expects taxpayers to save more than 1.6 million hours per year in tax preparation time from this simpler calculation method.
The new option allows qualified taxpayers to deduct annually $5 per
square foot of home office space on up to 300 square feet, for as much
as $1,500 in deductions. To take advantage of the new option, taxpayers
will complete a much simpler version of the current 43-line form.
However, normally, care providers should not use this option, they can
deduce much more in the way it has been done so far, calculating the percentage
of space used only for child care, adding the percentage of space
occasionally used to childcare, multiplied by the hours that it is used
in the year and divided by thetotal hours of the year, and divided the
sum by the total area of the house. This number, which we call the
"FORMULA SPACE/TIME”, is used to calculate the percentage that is
deductible as a business expense of devaluation of the house taxes and
interests paid for the house, and cost of the bills.
Make sure the person doing your taxes correctly calculates that percentage.
