Yes, the home office deduction lets you deduct a portion of the cost of the new roof, mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation for the portion of your home used for business. It's available to homeowners and renters alike.
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. In addition, if you're working at home for an employer, your home office must be for the convenience of your employer – not just you.
This means if your employer lets you telecommute as an option, you can't take the deduction. However, if your employer doesn't have their own office or workplace, forcing you to work from home, you may be able to claim the deduction.
When you enter your home office information in TurboTax, we'll determine if you can claim the deduction and how much the deduction is worth.
To enter the employee home office deduction:
- Open your return, if you haven't already done so.
- Inside TurboTax, search for home office, employee (use this exact phrase, including the comma and space) and then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.
- Enter your occupation and proceed.
- When you get to the Did you have home office expenses? screen, answer Yes and continue.
We'll ask a series of questions about your home office size, usage, etc. to determine if you qualify for the deduction and for how much.
Please note that the home office deduction for employees is subject to the 2% rule. More info
