I have home office carryover from '18. I did not use hm office in '19. I again had hm office in '20. I can't find entry section. Do I enter loss in home office exp area?

[antrim]

Turbo Tax states this:
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"You get to take a carryover if you used actual expenses last year and you didn’t get to deduct all of them on last year's taxes. This can happen if the work you do from your home office incurred a loss last year or if the income you made from this work last year is less than the home office deduction amount.

If you used actual expenses last year, and if you want to get this carryover, you'll need to take actual expenses again this year and answer No, I want to take actual expenses.

If you've ever used the simplified deduction method, you won't get a carryover from any year that you used that method."
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I used actual expenses in both 2018 and 2020. (Just to restate what I posted in my original question, I didn't work from a home office in 2019, so I didn't file Form 8829 that year.) I've gone through the Turbo Tax Home Office Expense Category multiple times and it never mentions a place to enter a home office carryover loss. I also checked under "Uncommon Situations / Carryovers, limitations, at risk information, etc.", but that appears to be carryovers of at-risk business investments on Schedule C, etc.

My losses from 2018 are on Form 8829, Part IV (Carryover of Unallowed Expenses):
     - Line 43 "Operating expenses"
     - Line 44 "Excess casualty losses and depreciation"

Does anyone know how to get the program to allow me to enter the 2018 carryover losses?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[AnnetteB6]

As you go through the home office expense section of your return, look for the question near the end of the section that says, "Did you have any home office expenses not deducted in a prior year?'  Answering yes to this question will open the page for entering prior year expenses that can carry over.  

[antrim]

Thank you!

It appears I am not seeing the option you've referenced because I'm in the following net loss situation for my business income (as stated by Turbo Tax):

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"You can only deduct home office expenses up to the amount of net income you have from your business. Any expenses that exceed your business net income are carried over to next year.

For example:
You grossed $20,000 in your business this year, but had $17,000 worth of business expenses, for net income of $3,000. If, in addition to that, you had home office expenses totalling $4,000, you can deduct $3,000 this year and add the remaining $1,000 to your home office expenses next year.

Home office deductions are commonly limited for new businesses that haven't yet made much money, or businesses that have suffered a large insurance loss."

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So, I not only have that prior carryover loss from 2018, but now the program is assigning a carryover loss from 2020 to 2021.

Is my businesses net loss the reason I never see the question "Did you have any home office expenses not deducted in a prior year?" I've searched and searched for that question by going through the home office expense section many times.

If that is the case, do I carryover both the 2018 loss and 2020 loss until I have a net business income gain?

Thanks so much for any clarity you can provide.

[AnnetteB6 · Accepted solution]

Having an overall loss for your business will not prevent the entry of the unused home office expenses.  

Go through your home office section once again and be sure that you did not indicate that the home office use started during 2020.  Doing so would imply that there was no prior use and therefore there would be no unused expenses to claim.

@antrim

[ldawn513]

It’s been a while since your post but did you ever find your answer? I have a similar situation where I had a home office loss carryover from 2022 but for 2023 I didn’t use my home office. Wondering if I will have issues getting the loss carrier for the home office from 2022 to carryover to future years if I use the home office again. 

[AnnetteB6]

Keep your previous year tax returns and look for the questions related to home office expenses not deducted in a prior year as you go through the business section of your return next tax season.  If you are using the same home office again, just be sure to enter the date that you first started using the office, not the date you started using it in the current tax year you are working on.

@ldawn513