Starting with the 2013 tax year the Internal Revenue Service is introducing a simplified means for small business owners and home-based employees to claim the home office tax deduction.

Those working from home and maintaining a qualifying home office are able to deduct $5/ft2 of office space on up to 300 ft2 for a maximum deduction of $1,500/yr.  Current restrictions on claiming the home office deduction such as the requirement that a home office be used regularly and exclusively for business will still apply under the new option.

To take advantage of the simplified option taxpayers will complete a much simpler version of the current form (Form 8829)which includes complex calculations related to expense allocation, unused deduction carryovers, depreciation, etc.  The IRS anticipates more than 1.6 million hours/yr in tax preparation time will be saved by this simpler calculation method.

Homeowners using the new option are unable to depreciate the portion of their home used in a trade of business.  Still permitted, however, is claiming allowable mortgage interest, casualty losses and real estate taxes.  Such deductions do not need to be allocated between business and personal use as historically required.

Additional information is available in Revenue Procedure 2013-13.