Can You Deduct a Percentage of Rent if Using Room Exclusively as Home Office?

I rent a two bedroom apartment and use one of the rooms exclusively as a home office for my personal business. Can I deduct a percentage of the rent as a business expense?

Yes, you can deduct a portion of your rent, provided the room is used exclusively for business. You can also deduct a portion of your heat, gas, electricity, garbage and sewer bills - even your cable, internet, and phone bills ( if you do not have a dedicated business line )..

Take the ratio of the business area and divide by the total area of your home; that is the ratio used for deducting from your bills.

Bear in mind, though, that if you are too aggressive in deducting stuff, you run the risk of audit by the IRS. So be reasonable.

Short answer is yes. The long answer is it all depends, and even if you can, it's probably not worth it. If it increases your chances of an audit by throwing up all kinds of red flags at the IRS, and only saves you $12 on your tax liability, would you do it?

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　　Meeting Room 　　Meeting Space 　　Conference Room 　　Offices to Lease 　　Rent Offices 　　Business Centers 　　Service Offices 　　Branch Offices 　　Temporary Offices 　　Shared Offices 　　Commercial Space

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