Beginings of a new home office.

[Sgt Beavis]

As some of you know, I work from home.

Well, to take the maximum advantage of the available tax breaks on a home office, I decided to make the 2nd largest bedroom in the house into my new office. I also bought new office furniture.

So here we go. Here it the new desk from Ikea. I was going to buy a significantly more expensive desk but this one from Ikea does the job and easily lends itself to modification. I need all that workspace too. The leather chair is a carry over from my old office. I got it at The Dump.



I also put a dog bed in there. I need someone to keep me company



Cayenne got the nut cut this week, so he gets to look extremely goofy for a week.



I'm also using this space to wall mount my guitars.



I used Hercules Guitar mounts. I HIGHLY recommend these.



Oh, and here the new Fender Jaguar Special I just acquired.



Later I'll be putting in new floors and painting the room.

[Skidmark]

I heard to get the tax savings from working from home that you had to have a separate door to the office itself?

That desk looks NICE... can you PM me what you paid for it from Ikea if you don't mind?

I also work from home, but in an apartment.

I believe you can claim the furniture and equipment you bought for the office

[jefehbk]

Dude wheres the mini fridge and microwave? gotta have munchies and beverages to work.

[Sgt Beavis]

Originally Posted by jefehbk

Dude wheres the mini fridge and microwave? gotta have munchies and beverages to work.

The mini fridge is in my old office. I'll be moving it today.

Which brings up a great point about working from home.

Every day is BEER DAY

[Sgt Beavis]

Originally Posted by Skidmark

I heard to get the tax savings from working from home that you had to have a separate door to the office itself?

That desk looks NICE... can you PM me what you paid for it from Ikea if you don't mind?

I also work from home, but in an apartment.

I believe you can claim the furniture and equipment you bought for the office

I'll have to check on the door rule, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case.....

The desk was only $370 at Ikea. The file cabinet was $150. The file cabinet has two hidden drawers inside the file drawer.

Its pretty solid too. Theres a steel frame under that desktop. You can also buy more sections and make the desk MUCH bigger.

[bullet]

If yoy ever get audited and they question the dedution you had better not have the guitars and amp in there when they do a surprise walkthrough. Unless that is your business is music related.

[8mpg]

there is no door rule....

The IRS will not allow you to deduct your home office from your taxes if you have ANY personal stuff inside your office unless you can give a reason of WHY you need it for work. Like Bullet said, you need to ditch those guitars. Pull them out and pull out the personal stuff and take a picture of your plain ass office just in case you ever get audited, you can show a picture to show your office.

Also, you can claim part of your mortgage for your home office. You can claim the amount of square footage divided by the home square footage, then multiply that by your mortgage.

[Sgt Beavis]

Originally Posted by 8mpg

there is no door rule....

The IRS will not allow you to deduct your home office from your taxes if you have ANY personal stuff inside your office unless you can give a reason of WHY you need it for work. Like Bullet said, you need to ditch those guitars. Pull them out and pull out the personal stuff and take a picture of your plain ass office just in case you ever get audited, you can show a picture to show your office.

Also, you can claim part of your mortgage for your home office. You can claim the amount of square footage divided by the home square footage, then multiply that by your mortgage.

Thanks for that little bit of advice. I will take it to heart.

[Sgt Beavis]

Now I have a question. I work 8 hours a day (minimum) in this office, does the amount of time spent working in my office figure into the formula?

Thanks

[Thats M Life]

the desk and the leather chair are the tits! Love the color. The floor definately needs attention next

What do you do from home if you dont mind me asking?

Nice dogs, can you claim them as leisure expenses for work lol

edit: cayenne also looks slightly pissed at the newfound missing balls lol

[Sgt Beavis]

I'm an IT consultant with EDS. I have a significant amount of travel, so I get to work from home. Fortunately my current account only has me on the road every once in a while.

[8mpg]

Originally Posted by Sgt Beavis

Now I have a question. I work 8 hours a day (minimum) in this office, does the amount of time spent working in my office figure into the formula?

Thanks

nope...hrs dont matter. You claim the square footage and all expenses. If you want to start claiming that kind of stuff...Id have a CPA give you advice or just do your taxes. They know the laws and they change from year to year. They will also represent you if you get audited so the IRS doesnt come to your house. Thats where the picture comes in really handy.

[J&T's 82]

I have that same desk in white in my home office. I need to get one of those chairs now.

[jakesford]

There are two key rules when wanting to take the deduction. First you must be self employed and use your home office for your primary place of business. If you are employed by a company and work at home it must be for the convenience of the company not because YOU choose to work at home a few days

Second, it must be used EXCLUSIVELY for work. It can't be used for an office during the day and a guest bedroom at night, or a game room for the kids etc. This is were the "door rule" came from, since you can claim that the separate entry is used for client visits etc. which would further your argument. So technically you shouldn't keep non-business items in there, as that would violate this exclusivity, but really its not like the IRS is going to know

[Sgt Beavis]

Well I meet the "company convenience" qualification. I have an Alternative Work Arrangement in writing. It saves the company a few thousand a year not to have to keep a cubicle.

Of course it saves me a few thousand in gas

I'll have to go read up some more on the subject. Thanks...

[red04gt]

Originally Posted by Sgt Beavis

I'm an IT consultant with EDS. I have a significant amount of travel, so I get to work from home. Fortunately my current account only has me on the road every once in a while.

Not bad I have to deal with the new zealand portion of eds/e2e on a regular basis.

[Chili]

Originally Posted by Skidmark

That desk looks NICE... can you PM me what you paid for it from Ikea if you don't mind?

You saw my desk on Friday, that was also bought at Ikea and I love it. It is the same thing he got, more or less. You pick the desk surface (table top), then the style legs you want, then accessories (keyboard tray, desk extensions, tower holder, etc.) And they are VERY reasonably priced and you can come up with dozens of configurations to fit your needs and space. I highly recommend them for office furniture.

[Mr Evil]

Nice Job Rick. I'm going to have to get that same desk now. And the guitar mounts.

[Mr Evil]

Originally Posted by 8mpg

Also, you can claim part of your mortgage for your home office. You can claim the amount of square footage divided by the home square footage, then multiply that by your mortgage.

I thought that's what the IRS deduction was? I'm going to be doing the same thing, so if you wouldn't mind elaborating, I'd be much appreciative.

[bullet]

Originally Posted by Mr Evil

I thought that's what the IRS deduction was? I'm going to be doing the same thing, so if you wouldn't mind elaborating, I'd be much appreciative.

I believe you only get to write off the % use X the mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities, and repairs/ maintenance.



http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...108138,00.html

[8mpg]

Originally Posted by bullet

I believe you only get to write off the % use X the mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities, and repairs/ maintenance.



http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...108138,00.html

correct...

so if your house is 2000 sq ft and that room is 200 sq ft, you can write off 10% of your mortgage and associated bills

[Sgt Beavis]

Question:

Say I use part of a room for my home office and the rest for guitar playing. Is it kosher to divide up the square footage of the room and only deduct that part used for working?

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by Sgt Beavis

I'm an IT consultant with EDS. I have a significant amount of travel, so I get to work from home. Fortunately my current account only has me on the road every once in a while.

You wouldnt happen to know a guy named Phil Walsh would you?

[Sgt Beavis]

Originally Posted by Thurston

You wouldnt happen to know a guy named Phil Walsh would you?

'fraid not. I work from home and there is no one by that name in my group. I don't know anyone outside of my group and my customers.

[whitetrash]

i dont understand why you cant have personal items? if you had an office in a building you would be allowed to decorate it right?

['67coupe]

Originally Posted by Sgt Beavis

I'm an IT consultant with EDS. I have a significant amount of travel, so I get to work from home. Fortunately my current account only has me on the road every once in a while.

Me TOO! I work from home as well via the lovely AWA process. How long have you been with EDS? PM me what account you work for? It would be crazy if we were on the same one...