You are correct and I may add that fact to my original answer HOWEVER what I was also trying to get across is the fact that if you use Actual (or Regular) expenses for a home office, part of your house (the office part) gets depreciated.
The idea is that when you use something to generate business income, that "thing" gets old and looses value.
The amount of lost value that the IRS calculates each year is used to offset (lower) the business income.
SOMETIMES this can backfire, especially with real estate and vehicles. You go to sell this "thing" and realizes that the value did not go down as much as the IRS had figured it would, so you have to "pay back" the excess depreciation when you sell. This is called Depreciation Recapture.
Example: You could buy a business vehicle, totally depreciate it over the years to zero and then sell it for $5,000. You would need to claim $5,000 as taxable income for the depreciation recapture.
The same is true for a home office that uses the Actual/Regular Method. When you sell your home, you may need to "pay back" some or all of the depreciation you previously claimed.
Note: There is no option to "not claim" the depreciation in order to not pay it back. The IRS expects it "recaptured" whether you claimed it or not.
If you opt to use the Simplified Method, depreciation is not involved.
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