Not sure what you can write off when it comes to your home office? This article from Forbes just might help clarify.

Is Your Bathroom Your Home Office?

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When it comes to business-related tax deductions I know some VAs who claim things like water and bath tissue on their returns - how liberal are you with your own claims?

I always claim hardware, software, new office furniture, as well as true office supplies and expenses like postage but I've never tried to claim bath tissue, much less the bathroom itself.

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I generally go by the 'laugh test' for deductions. If the deduction makes me (or someone else) laugh, it probably isn't valid.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Tess,

That was a great article. Thank you for sharing.

Never though of using the bathroom as a deduction but I am wondering if you hide in it all day does that count? LOL! I do take the standard deductions and I do have a dedicated space for my office.

I did read that the IRS wants to change the home office to a standard deduction instead of calculating by percentage of home but I believe it is still in the works. This could be one of the reasons why.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

My lower (office) level bathroom is exclusive use and I don't fancy sharing a tree in the backyard with Fang (woof!) lol

Lynne

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The Wordpro Wizard
www.wordprowizard.com

Originally Posted by Office Goddess

I generally go by the 'laugh test' for deductions. If the deduction makes me (or someone else) laugh, it probably isn't valid.

I like this one and I agree!

Thanks for sharing this, Tess. It's a really great article.

I don't take my office or the bathroom it is attached to, but I do take the standard deductions such as office supplies, hardware, software, membship fees, etc. That are exclusively business related.

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Rhonda Holscher, Owner
Rhonda's Virtual Office - Hire a Virtual Assistant

I used to work for a company for about 9 years as an independent contractor until they made all the IC's employees, but during that time my accountant would pretty much just throw deductions in there which he felt I had the right to deduct, but never has he suggested claiming water or toilet paper as a legit deduction lol. I would be way too nervous to even try something like that.