I need some assistance determining whether or not I can write off apartment rent.

[apesposito]

My wife is a Registered Dietitian. For about seven months this year, she was an independent contractor for a charity.  Part of her job was to prepare meals, select recipes, & test recipes- all of which took place at our one bedroom apartment.  Since she used our kitchen for this, can we determine the square footage of our kitchen and deduct that portion of our rent as a business expense (kitchen is 13% of our entire apartment)?  Also, she used our internet & cell phone- can these be deducted?  I feel like it is kind of a unique scenario since her profession uses a kitchen compared to a business person who would utilize an office. Thanks in advance!

[MichaelDC]

No, whether you're self-employed or an employee, one requirement for the home office deduction is that you regularly use a part of your home exclusively for conducting business.

You would probably pass the regularly test. However, you unfortunately don't pass the exclusively test.

For example, let's say you turned an unused bedroom into your office and installed a computer with its own high-speed connection. You go in there 4-6 days every week, building websites. The room is used strictly for business – contacting prospects and clients, meeting with them, and working on their websites. In this case, your office would meet the regular and exclusive use requirement.

On the other hand, if you or a family member occasionally go into your office so they can watch movies or play games on your computer, your office is no longer being exclusively used for business.