Can we deduct commercial office space rental?

[paleoinsect]

My wife works for an insurance company in a large city.  We moved ~75 miles away and she is now virtual.  Due to internet connectivity issues, she was not able to work from home per se, so she rented some commercial office space in the town we now live, and she works solely out of there.  Can we deduct expenses from this office rental, and if so how do we do it on Turbo Tax?  "Home office" deductions only seem to be for people who are self-employed, and she is not.

[Anita01]

If your wife is a W-2 employee, she will not be able to deduct this expense,, since it would fall under the category of unreimbursed job-related expenses.  Beginning in 2018, the new tax laws do not allow for the deduction of such job-related expense.  Have you looked into satellite providers of cable services?

[paleoinsect]

We are unable to get cable, and we have a satellite provider but it is WAY too slow to be of any use to her.  Thanks, though!

[Anita01]

Don't know if you've seen suggestions like those in this article.  A couple of these changes helped me some.
 <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.reviews.org/internet-service/fastest-internet-from-your-satellite/">https://www.reviews....>

[paleoinsect]

I have been self-employed for a few years and I use the office space as well (in the back).  However, my business is extremely specialized and I did not make anything last year.  Seems rather shady for me to claim it, particularly as I didn't make anything.  I might make some this year, but that will be a year away in filing.

[Anita01]

You also could only deduct the portion of rent used by your business, allocated by space usage.

[Anita01]

There's nothing shady about claiming a legitimate business loss.  You do have to keep in mind that, in order to claim it as a business for self-employment, the IRS expects you to show a profit in 3 of the past 5 years or they may declare the activity as a hobby, limiting any expenses to income.  You can no longer deduct personal moving expenses unless you're  in the military, but you could deduct the portion of moving expense related to your business as a business expense.