California State tax

[ssanand17]

Hi,

If I work from home in California, Can I get the tax deduction for using my home office for the California state tax?

Thank You

Anand

[xmasbaby0]

Can I deduct job-related expenses on my tax return?

Sorry---W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal return.  Job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction for W-2 employees by the tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond.  Your state tax laws might be different in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA.

If you live in a state that lets you deduct job-related expenses, the information will flow from your federal return  to the state return, so enter it in Federal>Deductions and Credits>Employment Expenses>Job-Related Expenses

[Vanessa A]

Possibly.  In order to claim the home office deduction for California, you would need to itemize your California state return.  In order to do this, your itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction which is $5,363 for single people and $10,726 for married couples.  

Your itemized expenses include medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI, employee job related expenses in excess of 2% of your AGI, charitable donations, and home mortgage interest. If your total of these expenses do not total more than your standard deduction, then you would not be able to itemize your return or take a deduction for your home office.