Did you know that roughly 26% of Americans worked from home during 2021? And that number is expected to stay relatively steady for the new few years. In fact, about 22% of the American workforce is expected to be working remotely through 2025, according to freelancing platform Upwork.
If you were among the workforce displaced last year, you’re no doubt wondering if my new home office is tax-deductible? Are there extra deductions or credits that can be taken when they file their taxes by April 18, 2022?
TheStreet’s Tracy Byrnes sat down with Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and expert for TurboTax to get the answers.
Quotes| Taxes & Remote Working: Deductions for Employees Working From Home Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and TurboTax Expert Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and TurboTax ExpertVideo Transcript:Tracy Byrnes: A lot of people still working from home– are you in the office? Are you out of the office? What deductions can you take? Can I take that home office deduction? Am I working at the dining room table? What’s going on?
Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA, TurboTax expert, is here with us right now. Look, a lot of people are still home and they’re going to stay home. So do they get extra deductions or credits because of this?
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Lisa Greene-Lewis: Yes, that’s a big question we’re hearing. And one thing to remember is now, as a result of tax reform, you can only claim home expenses if you’re self-employed. So if you have an employer and you’ve been at home, unfortunately, you can’t deduct those work-from-home expenses.
Tracy Byrnes: So that includes your home office. That includes your internet or a portion of your internet. All the things that the typical self-employed person would take, you cannot take, even though you– and I mean me– haven’t seen the inside of my office in probably two years now.
Lisa Greene-Lewis: Right. Yes, only self-employed. And self-employed, they have to have an identified space where they do their business. So it can’t be the kitchen table where everybody eats or kids do homework. It has to be a specific area in their home where they do business.
Tracy Byrnes: Right. Half laundry room, half office, that doesn’t work. Is there anything I can deduct as a person working remotely?
Lisa Greene-Lewis: So as an employee working remotely, there’s nothing you could deduct. I think the best thing to do would see if your employer has an employee benefit plan where they can include some of those benefits for you, possibly. That might– that would be an option.
Tracy Byrnes: That’s a great tip. All right, but those of you working from home, whether it’s permanent or hybrid, you can’t deduct the home office or any of the other related expenses, bottom line.
Lisa Greene-Lewis, thank you so much for explaining all that.
Lisa Greene-Lewis: Thank you for having me.
Editor’s note: Video produced by TheStreet’s Zach Faulds