Home office deduction Regular and Exclusive use?

[leviton11]

I completely understand the Exclusive use aspect of the requirement for a home office deduction, but not the Regular use aspect.  Can that be defined by used a certain number of days per week/year etc?

[MinhT1]

Please read this TurboTax article which explains the different aspects of the home office deduction, including the definition of exclusive use and regular use.

[leviton11]

Thank you for the reference to that article, BUT it does not define what 'Regular use" is.  Can we get a specific number of hours a week it would need to be used to qualify as regular use?  We need better guidance!

Also, I did find this on the IRS website, but it basically says Regular means Not Incidental.  I need a definition of what Regular is, not of what it is not.   That is like saying the definition of a cat is that it is not an elephant. 

[AmyC]

Each business is different. What is regular for one business may not be for another. If you are out building all day and come home to your office for billing, it won't be much time in the office but regularly used when a customer needs to be billed. The IRS understands that situation versus the day trader who is home all day using the space for stock market trades. Based on your business, is the space used regularly for work? Also, it must be exclusive. Your kitchen table is not exclusive while a tray in the corner might be.

[AmeliesUncle]

---

@leviton11 wrote:

BUT it does not define what 'Regular use" is. 

---

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer.

However, the "Simplified Method" for a Home Office MIGHT shed some light on it.  That method requires 15 days of use a month.  That does not necessarily mean that is required for the 'regular' method of a Home Office Deduction, but it might give some indication of what 'regular' would mean.

[leviton11]

The 15 day test is only is you are claiming a use for a Partial Year.  

Under the simplified method, if you don’t use your home for business for twelve full months, you will have to prorate your square footage, which will reduce your maximum deduction. In order to count as a month of use, you must use your home office for at least 15 days out of each month.

[Vanessa A]

As mentioned above, there is no exact criteria for regular use.  If you use it all year but only do billing in the office 5 days a month and don't use it any other time nor for any other thing, you can count that as regular.  

Basically, if you have a business where you are out of town most days a month and the office "sits idle" waiting for you to come back to bill the customers 4 times a month and you have no other place where you do the billing, it would still be regular use.  

Sitting idle does not make it not regularly use.  Regular use could be more of a "routine" than a set number of days or hours per week.  

[leviton11]

If you teach classes 3 days a week and use the space exclusively for preparing for each of those classes as well as for filling out administrative work and professional development than I assume would that qualify as regular use?  Also, none of the places I teach provide me with a place to do these tasks.

[ShirlynW]

It Depends. Employees working from home can't take the home office deduction, even if you've been asked to work from home due to COVID-19. This has been in place since 2018, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. 

If you're self-employed, however, housing-related expenses such as mortgage interest, rent, utilities, repairs, and depreciation for the portion of your home or rental that you use to run your business are allowable expenses under the home office deduction.

You may be able to claim the home office deduction if your office is:

• Used regularly and exclusively for your business, and
• Is your principal place of business (both conditions must apply).

[Opus 17]

---

@leviton11 wrote:

If you teach classes 3 days a week and use the space exclusively for preparing for each of those classes as well as for filling out administrative work and professional development than I assume would that qualify as regular use?  Also, none of the places I teach provide me with a place to do these tasks.

---

You may want to refer to the IRS instructions if the Turbotax FAQ is not enough.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-587

Regular use means you don't have any other office that you also use.  If you don't have a regular place of business, your home office can be where you do your administrative work.  I believe the IRS uses the example of a doctor who attends at several different hospitals.  If they use their home to make appointments, review medical records and so on, and if it is their only office, it qualifies.  If the hospital gives them an office and they do some of their medical work at the hospital, then the home office does not qualify, even if they use it several days a week and meets the exclusive use rule.  There are a number of examples in publication 587.

0. Your home office will qualify as your principal place of business if you meet the following requirements.

• You use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your trade or business.

• You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or business.