Take Your Choice for Deducting Home Office Expenses

You now have a choice in how you deduct the expense of a home office. Starting with your 2013 tax return, you can either deduct the actual expenses connected with your home office, or you can use the simplified method of deducting $5 per square foot of the part of your home used for business, up to a maximum deduction of $1,500.

Remember, the deduction isn’t available just because you do work at home; you must use part of your home regularly and exclusively as your principal place of business or where you meet customers, clients, or patients in the normal course of business.