Eight Dollar Blog

If you are eligible for a home office deduction, you have to claim it. You cannot simply decide not to deduct it if you do meet the eligibility requirements we have outlined above. Why is this? If the IRS discovers that you are eligible, they will insist that you have to reduce the basis of your home by the amount of depreciation allowable anyway, so you might as well take it.17

If you rent, you must take the claim by deducting a portion of your rent as it equates to the square footage of the home office. For example, if you pay $750 per month in rent on a 1,000 square-foot apartment, and your home office occupies 250 square feet of that space, you can deduct onefourth of your rent (or $187.50 per month; $2,250 per year) for your home office.

Another thing to consider is that the home office deduction is limited
to the net income from the business activity you conduct at home.18 Consequently, if you have any expenses above and beyond the net income, you will not be able to deduct those home office expenses. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the home office deduction because any expenses disallowed solely because they exceed your business income can be carried forward until you have sufficient income from your business conducted from home.19

Taken from : Money Mastery “10 Principles That Will Change
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