Tax Write Offs For Home Based Businesses – 5 Write Offs That You Can Take Advantage Of
If you run a business at home or are thinking of running one, it is important to be aware of the tax write offs for home based businesses. Whether your business is detailed, with a separate portion of your house dedicated to it, or whether it is online from your home computer, you should take a serious look at these deductions. Assuming your business is profitable, these deductions can save you money at tax time.5 Tax Write Offs For Home Based Businesses1. Office Expenses: Whatever you use for your business in the form of pens, paper, postage and so on can be claimed in full each year. Although you can claim larger office items such as filing cabinets, printers and computers, these fall under depreciable assets, so the rules are different. If you do not have an official office you can still claim these costs, even if you do most of your work in bed on your laptop.2. Mortgage or Rent and Property Tax: One of the great tax write offs for home based businesses is your home! If your home is your primary place of business or you use a certain space in your home only to earn income, than you can claim a portion of your mortgage interest and property taxes. This is a huge amount and can save you a great deal of money. If you rent, and can prove the above, than you can claim a portion of your rent as a business expense also. The portion you can claim is dependent on how much of that space you actually use and how much time you spend using it for business.3. Other Home Expenses: You can deduct almost any expense that you incur from owning a home or renting a property. But the same rule applies that only a portion can be deducted depending on how much it is used for business. These other expenses include power, internet, telephone, heating, water and any maintenance repairs.4. Automobile: Tax write offs for home based businesses can include your vehicle; this is another area where you can save a lot of money. As long as you keep track of your mileage used for business related activities (which can be as simple as going to the store to get office supplies) you can claim that portion of your fuel, oil, automobile insurance and licensing. If you use your vehicle to help you earn an income than you can deduct any interest on money that you borrowed to purchase the vehicle. If you lease, you can deduct the cost of the lease. However, there is a cap on the amount of interest you can deduct over the life of the vehicle.5. Insurance: Anyone who operates a home based business should consider home based business insurance. This insurance covers you if anything were to happen. Many times, people without this insurance will not get compensated in the case of disaster since this is entirely separate from home owners insurance. The cost of this insurance is deductible. In some cases as well, a portion of the cost of your home insurance can be deducted.Tax write offs for home based businesses are just some of the perks of having a business at home. As always, before attempting to claim any tax write offs for your home based business, consult an accountant as the tax rules can be different depending on where you live.