(Please note: I am
answering this question with the assumption that your office that is used 100%
for business is located in your home, along with the shared office space. If it is not, you will actually have two
offices for your business, one outside the home and one shared space.)
The secret to shared office
space lies in the square footage of each office claimed.
The total square feet
claimed as a home office should be divided among the businesses so that the sum
of square feet used by each business does not exceed the total square feet used
as home office space. That way each
business is claiming their portion of the home office space and the full amount
of utilities, etc. may be entered for each home office and then allocated
according to the square feet.
For your particular case
, take the square feet of the space that you use 100% for your business
and add the square feet of the portion
of the shared space that is for your business. Then your spouse will claim the remaining
square feet of the shared space for his business.
As a reference, the following information is taken from a
link within the TurboTax program to explain how the calculations are handled
with a shared home office space. To take a closer look for yourself, click on
the link “What do I enter if I shared
this office with someone else who also used it as a home office?” at
the bottom of the Enter the Square
Footage of Your Home and Home Office page in the Schedule C section of your
return. The thumbnail shown below
illustrates that page for you.
You'll need to divide up the space and treat it as 2 separate offices.
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 and another person each have 1 business and share 1 office
measuring 100 square feet, you could enter 50 square feet if you shared the
office space equally. Or if you used 75% of the office space and the other
person used 25%, you could enter 75 square feet.
Whatever method you choose, the way
you'll enter your home office expenses will depend on whether you're married to
the person you share the office with, and what your filing status is.
- If your filing status is Married Filing Jointly (MFJ), and you share the
office with your spouse: Enter the full amounts the two of you paid during the
time either of you used the space as an office. Do the same on the other
office. It might seem like you're entering everything twice, but since you
divided up the square footage earlier based on how you use the space, all of
the expenses for the total square footage will be accounted for on your tax
return. We'll calculate the correct expense amounts for each office, and the
total expense amount will then be correct on your tax return.
- If you're not filing as MFJ, or if you're filing MFJ but you share the office
with someone other than your spouse who's not listed on your tax return: If
each of you is filing your own tax return, enter the amounts that you paid
during the time you used the space as a home office. Do not include amounts
paid by someone else. We'll calculate the correct expense amounts for your
office.
