Can two people claim deductions for the same property (i.e. home used for ind. businesses by hubby and wife)?

My husband and I are independent contractors, and both share our home office for our businesses. We are independent of each other and in different line of work. I wonder if we could both claim the full deduction for using our home as office. For e.g. we have 300 sq. feet office, can we both claim it, or each can only claim 150 sq. feet? If we paid, $10K in mortgage, for example, do we split it in half between our businesses, or each can claim the whole amount of $10K.

The office must be exclusively used for your own business so I hope you're not saying that you share the same spot. If you each have a separate desk and setup then ok. Only the square footage of your exclusive area is counted in relation to the rest of the house. Then you each use your own percentage to calculate the household expenses. For phone line deduction you must maintain a separate line - you don't get a portion if the house only has 1 line (same with your internet connection). You don't get the "whole amount" of anything. If your exclusive work area is 10% of the house then you get 10%. You each fill out your own Schedule C, Schedule SE and 8829 and attach it to your 1040. All the home office stuff goes on the 8829 and carries to schedule C.

I was self employeed for years and it was my understanding that you are only able to write off the part of the house that you use. So if there is the 300 sq. ft. that you speak of, you get 150 sq ft and your hubby gets the other half. You might also remember that you get to write off the elec., gas, phone etc. too so remember to split that if you share it also.

I'm a tax student. Sounds like you guys should split between each other.