There is a simplified home office deduction new for 2013.  This is a great thing for those work-at-home types.  To calculate the deduction you take the square footage of the home office and multiply it by $5 per square foot, with a maximum deduction of $1,500.  If you use the simplified method you don’t even need to file that extra form anymore- it goes right on Schedule C, line 30 (see it here).

Here’s the catch- in some cases the traditional method of calculating the home office deduction will result in a bigger deduction.  This could happen if you have a lot of direct expenses, such as paying for repairs and maintenance specific to your home office.  That means that you might still want to go through the whole long, complex calculation anyway.  Check with your CPA to see what is your best bet.

recite-home office deduction

Tweet it!  The simplified home office deduction is easy to calculate but it’s capped at $1,500. @BetteHochberger