Being an officer would override being an employee for reporting your wages paid to you on the return.
It depends on what method you used. There's two ways to claim the home office deduction. You can take a deduction for the percentage of the actual expenses that pertain to the home office (the regular method), or you can use the simplified method. If you used the simplified method, you took no depreciation. Below is some more information about the simplified method per Rev. Proc. 2013-13 (PDF):
- Taxpayers can elect to calculate the deduction for using a home office for business under the simplified method rather than deduct actual expenses.
- The simplified method is calculated by multiplying $5 by the square footage of the area in the home used for business.
- The maximum area allowed under the simplified method is 300 square feet.
- The simplified method simplifies recordkeeping and substantiation rules. Taxpayers do not have to separately keep track of the actual cost of utilities, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, etc.
- When the home is sold, depreciation recapture does not apply for the period of time the simplified method was used.
If you don't know off the top of your head which method you used, you can check by reviewing your Schedule C forms. The line numbers may have changed over the years, but you will be looking for Expenses for Business Use of Your Home (line 30 in 2019). This line will tell you if you took the simplified method or the regular method.
So let's say you took the simplified method in 2019. Easy--no depreciation was taken for the home office, and you will indicate this accordingly in the software.
However, if you find that you used the regular method, the next thing to do is look for Form 8829 (Expenses for Business Use of Your Home). The line numbers may have changed over the years, but you will be looking for Depreciation allowable (line 42 in 2019). Once you get that number for each year, add it up, and that will be the amount of depreciation deductions you took.
Now, if you discover that you used the regular method but neglected to take depreciation in any year, please reply back with details. That is a special situation that requires a very specific approach.
where to find office in home deductions for Sch C
As an owner of the S-Corp, if you work for the S-Corp, the S-Corp has to pay a normal salary and you are an employee of your S-Corp.
As an employee, you cannot deduct home office expenses as they are job-related and employee business expenses are no longer deductible on Sch A on the individual return.
The best arrangement is for the S-Corp to reimburse you the cost of your home office under an accountable expense plan.
Unfortunately, as an employee of your S-Corp, you cannot claim either the home office deduction or unreimbursed expenses.
Nothing can be done for tax year 2020. But you can set up an accountable plan with your S-Corp now and in 2021, submit an expense for your home office expenses for both 2020 and 2021. As it is an accountable plan, the amounts reimbursed are deductible by the S-Corp, but not taxable for you.
Please read this article for more information.
