Jeff Schnepper is a lawyer who has argued in front of the United States Supreme Court, he has appeared on numerous national and local TV shows, he is a former professor of taxation, accounting & finance, and he is the author of many books including "How To Pay Zero Taxes" , "TurboTax Deluxe" and "The New Bankruptcy Law". He recently posted a great article on MSN's MoneyCentral website related to tax benefits and pitfalls related to having and maintain a home office.
First, Jeff Schnepper states that 19 million people work from home, that this
potentially provides these Third Wavers some nice tax benefits, but properly taking these deductions can be tricky.
Among the benefits and pitfalls identified in the article, you need to get a letter from your employer or law firm, if you are not self-employed, stating that working from home is a convenience of the firm and a condition of your employment. The home office cannot be simply for your benefit.
Also, Mr. Schnepper advises that you can only deduct your home office from your taxes if it is your principal place of business and your business generates revenue. However, he warns that under recent rulings you can only meet this criteria if you have no other fixed place of business.
Further, property, such as computers, must be exclusively used for business in order to exercise these deductions.
This article is highly recommended.
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