Tax software and working from home

D

Davis

Member
OK, last year was the first time that I "did my taxes" instead of having an accountant do them. I ended up using Tax Act; very easy. However, I can't figure out how to enter deduction for my home office. I work from home 100 percent of the time, and use 25% for my office, so I can deduct quite a bit. Well, this is my first year doing this so I need to find software that easily allows me to enter these deductions. The form is 8829.

Anybody have any info to pass my way? Otherwise I may have to go back to my accountant. He was very good but I liked having control over it.
 
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Ah it too early to do think about taxes!!!
smiley-bangheadonwall.gif
 
I use TurboTax and it was very eay to add that info to let it figure it out for you.

However, TurboTax and TaxCut are not compatible, at least they weren't a few years ago.
 
I have been using H&R Block online to file taxes for the last 6 years. It really cool because they keep copies of your returns and you can print them out when needed.

You can do 1040 - 1040-A - 1040 with schdduled for small or home businesses and 1040-EZ for single tax filers with income under a certain amount.
 
Davis said:
OK, last year was the first time that I "did my taxes" instead of having an accountant do them. I ended up using Tax Act; very easy. However, I can't figure out how to enter deduction for my home office. I work from home 100 percent of the time, and use 25% for my office, so I can deduct quite a bit. Well, this is my first year doing this so I need to find software that easily allows me to enter these deductions. The form is 8829.

Anybody have any info to pass my way? Otherwise I may have to go back to my accountant. He was very good but I liked having control over it.
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Still using a CPA for now and she says I can't write off any of my rent since I don't have a dedicated room so no I am no help :o
 
It doesn't have to be a dedicated room. I forget the details but there are two options. Basically it comes down to a "can you prove it with records" thing. You just have to show that you must do a majority of your work at home. You can then deduct your insurance, rent/mortgage, supplies, utilities, depreciation, etc... up to the percentage of your house/apartment is used for work. This can be calculated by determining the actual square footage or estimating if the rooms are roughly the same size, in your house.
 
Davis said:
It doesn't have to be a dedicated room. I forget the details but there are two options. Basically it comes down to a "can you prove it with records" thing. You just have to show that you must do a majority of your work at home. You can then deduct your insurance, rent/mortgage, supplies, utilities, depreciation, etc... up to the percentage of your house/apartment is used for work. This can be calculated by determining the actual square footage or estimating if the rooms are roughly the same size, in your house.
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That's the rub my *office* is literally a tiny spot between my living room and dining room. I may start playing around with stuff since this was only my first year in business on my own :Smiley_wink:
 
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My brother is a CPA and I can tell you if you ever get audited and they can come out to your home where you claim you are doing business. If the space doesn't meet their criteria your deductions will be disallowed and you'll likely incur a penalty, not to mention interest.
 
DAB said:
My brother is a CPA and I can tell you if you ever get audited and they can come out to your home where you claim you are doing business. If the space doesn't meet their criteria your deductions will be disallowed and you'll likely incur a penalty, not to mention interest.
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That's what my CPA told me as well and at this point I'm playing by the rules:mad:
 
DAB said:
My brother is a CPA and I can tell you if you ever get audited and they can come out to your home where you claim you are doing business. If the space doesn't meet their criteria your deductions will be disallowed and you'll likely incur a penalty, not to mention interest.
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Exactly. That is why you have to be very careful with it. You also have to be careful with deducting the depreciation because it can come back to bite you when you sell the house.
 
We do FREE online Turbo Tax through State Farm.

I would think Turbo Tax could handle home office deductions.

You should ask Sirius Rich; Bush lowered his taxes down to nothing. :p
 
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