question about home office deduction

[nrandell]

Hello,

My wife and I rent two bedrooms in a house with two other people living there. My wife has her office in an enclosed back porch area. How do we figure out our deduction as we aren't renting out the whole house? Do we just calculate based on the size of the two bedrooms and office area that we are paying for? Thanks.

[Steve B]

I would base it on the percentage of space that is dedicated to her office versus the price of your rent. If you are paying $500 per month for rent, and the office is 10% of the total space you are renting (not 10% of the total house space), then you would claim $50 per month. I'm not an accountant, so hopefully an expert will chime in on this.

[VeritasCustom]

When we do our taxes each year there is a place on the form where we enter the total square footage used.

[Evan]

Is the enclosed back porch used exclusively for business and no other use? Is it used regularly? Business use of home requires both, and because folks try getting creative here, this tends to cause IRS audits.