Are cell phone expenses considered home office expenses? Where do I enter this expense?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 3, 2019
1 reply
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I am in sales and use my cell phone daily for work. I work from home, the office, or on the road. Where do I enter this expense?

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by

No. Cell phone expenses are not considered home office expenses. Rather, your cell phone expenses are in their own category for deductions. Whether you are an employee or self- employed will make a difference in where you enter this expense.

If you are self-employed you will enter this expense as a business expense on your Schedule C. You will need TurboTax Home & Business for this.

In TurboTax Home & Business, proceed to the following:

Business<Business Income & Expenses<Profit or Loss From Business<Common Business Expenses

If you are an employee and trying to claim your cell phone as an unreimbursed employee business expense, certain restrictions apply and you must itemize your deductions on a schedule A.

You can enter these unreimbursed employee business expenses in TurboTax by proceeding to the following:

Federal Taxes<Deductions & Credits< "I'll Choose what I work on" or "Jump to a Full List"< scroll down to Employment Expenses< Job-related expenses

*Please click on the blue 'Learn More' link next to Job-related expenses for more details about the restrictions that apply. This is important because it is very hard to actually qualify to deduct any job related expenses on anyone's return.

Anonymous

Answer

If you are self-employed you will enter this expense as a business expense on your Schedule C. You will need TurboTax Home & Business for this.

In TurboTax Home & Business, proceed to the following:

Business<Business Income & Expenses<Profit or Loss From Business<Common Business Expenses

If you are an employee and trying to claim your cell phone as an unreimbursed employee business expense, certain restrictions apply and you must itemize your deductions on a schedule A.

You can enter these unreimbursed employee business expenses in TurboTax by proceeding to the following:

Federal Taxes<Deductions & Credits< "I'll Choose what I work on" or "Jump to a Full List"< scroll down to Employment Expenses< Job-related expenses

xtrmdragon

Level 2

As an employee if i have a second phone for buisness only, due to the frequency of calls i receive and number of people i have to share my number with can i file it?

DoninGA

Level 15

@xtrmdragon wrote:

As an employee if i have a second phone for buisness only, due to the frequency of calls i receive and number of people i have to share my number with can i file it?

As an employee you cannot deduct any employee business expenses on a federal tax return, including home office expenses, due to the tax code changes in effect for tax years 2018 thru 2025.