CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Many people started working from home last year when the pandemic started. Now that tax season is here, you may be wondering if you can claim any of those expenses on your taxes.
If you work for a company -- you’re an employee -- and you went remote last year, you can’t write off expenses.
But, if you’re self-employed, you can claim those expenses as long as you have a home office you use “regularly and exclusively” for business. There is also a principal place of business requirement (see the Form 8829 instructions here).
“The home office also must be an area separated from the living part of the home, used only for business to either meet clients, maintain books and conduct other business-related needs, and used exclusively for this purpose. A home office can’t be claimed if someone has self-employment and does their work at their kitchen table or in their guest bedroom. It has to be a space that’s dedicated for their business,” Jackson Hewitt said.
These rules apply to both your federal and state returns whether you live in North or South Carolina.
Lawmakers can always change the laws, so save your receipts just in case you can recover some of those costs later.
Cox Media Group
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