How do I deduct home office expense for 3 Schedule C businesses run out of the same office?

[bethalaw]

Turbotax deluxe

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can spread your Home Office Deduction across several businesses.

You'll need to divide up the space and enter it as if you had 3 separate offices. The IRS doesn't provide explicit direction on how to do this, stating only that the method you choose be "reasonable."

The most important thing to remember is that the total amount of your home office square footage, when added together, should not exceed the total you would claim if you had just 1 business use.

For example, if you have 2 businesses and 1 office measuring 100 square feet that you use equally for both businesses, you could enter 50 square feet for each home office. Or if you use your home office more for 1 business than the other, you could enter 75 square feet and 25 square feet, respectively.

You will enter home office expenses for each office separately. If the expense is shared with your home (for example, property taxes), enter the total amount three times. Because you have split the home office space between the three businesses, each home office will have an allocated share of the total.

[Morah]

I have the same situation and I tried this.  But it tripled my property tax figure on the Deductions and Credits page.  I deleted this number in each location and tried again with same results.  How do I fix this?

[Morah]

I have the same situation and I tried this.  But it tripled my property tax figure on the Deductions and Credits page.  I deleted this number in each location and tried again with same results.  How do I fix this?

[PatriciaV]

Review your entries for each office to be sure the total square feet for all three businesses is not more than the total square footage of your home office.