Determining Tax Home

[cans1]

Hello, I have a question that IRS publication 463 does not seem to answer.

My spouse and I live in MD. My spouse works 25% for a job in MD and 75% for a job in FL. Both jobs are W-2 kind of employment. However, the job in FL is partially remote, so she needs to spend 80 days in FL per year.

My doubt is how to determine the main place of business. Based on the number of days of residence, I would conclude that her tax home is in MD. However, her main employer is in FL, so I do not know if that has precedence.

I understand that if the tax home is in MD, it is possible to deduct the cost of lodging in FL and traveling. If the tax home is in FL, only the latter.

Thanks.

[Opus 17]

Tax home is the geographic area where she physically performs most of the work and earns most of her income.   (It is based on her physical location, not the physical location of the employer).  If she is only physically in Florida for 80 days per year, then it seems likely that Maryland is her tax home.  (Unless she earns most of her income for the year over those 80 days.)

Also remember that travel and lodging expenses away from the tax home are only deductible for self-employed persons.  That deduction for w-2 employees was removed from the federal tax return for 2018-2025, although you can still enter those expenses in Turbotax because they may be deductible in some states.