Does part of an unfinished basement count for the at home office business deduction? It does not have heating or cooling.

[egv0816]

I store all my supplies and work from it as well.

[Ashby · Accepted solution]

Yes, it would qualify as a home office as long as you don't have a principal place of business elsewhere away from the home. You can actually use barns, sheds, etc., so an unfinished basement is no different.

[egv0816]

Thank you. It asked for the square footage of my home and of the office space. Since the unfinished basement didn't count as finished square footage for real estate purposes I wasn't sure. (We have a 1,500 sq ft home above, but the 1,200 sq ft unfinished basement wasn't included in the square footage for selling purposes so I wasn't sure).
With that being said I would just add the 1,500 + 1,200 sq ft areas together to get my home square footage when it asks for the total home sq footage?

[Ashby]

Yes, I do that regularly when preparing returns. Often, people finish their basements and it's still not on record. So, just use the 2,700 figure and divide that into your work area square footage to get your percentage.

[egv0816]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.