Instructions For Form 8829 - Expenses For Business Use Of Your Home

2013

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Instructions for Form 8829

Expenses for Business Use of Your Home

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless

Certain daycare facilities.

otherwise noted.

Principal Place of Business

Future Developments

In determining whether the office in your home qualifies as your

For the latest information about developments related to Form

principal place of business, you must consider the following two

8829 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they

items.

were published, go to

The relative importance of the activities performed at each

place where you conduct business, and

What's New

The amount of time spent at each place where you conduct

The IRS now provides a simplified method to determine your

business.

expenses for business use of your home. For more information,

Your home office will qualify as your principal place of

and to determine if you can use this simplified method, see

business if you meet the following requirements.

Schedule C (Form 1040), Part II, and its instructions.

You use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or

management activities of your trade or business.

General Instructions

You have no other fixed location where you conduct

substantial administrative or management activities of your trade

Purpose of Form

or business.

Use Form 8829 to figure the allowable expenses for business

Administrative or management activities. There are many

use of your home on Schedule C (Form 1040) and any carryover

activities that are administrative or managerial in nature. The

to 2014 of amounts not deductible in 2013.

following are a few examples.

You must meet specific requirements to deduct expenses for

Billing customers, clients, or patients.

the business use of your home. Even if you meet these

Keeping books and records.

requirements, your deductible expenses may be limited. Part IV

Ordering supplies.

is used to figure any allowable carryover of expenses that are

Setting up appointments.

more than the limit. For details, see Pub. 587, Business Use of

Forwarding orders or writing reports.

Your Home (Including Use by Daycare Providers).

Administrative or management activities performed at oth

Who cannot use Form 8829. Do not use Form 8829 in the

er locations. The following activities performed by you or

following situations.

others will not disqualify your home office from being your

You are claiming expenses for business use of your home as

principal place of business.

an employee or a partner, or you are claiming these expenses

You have others conduct your administrative or management

on Schedule F (Form 1040). Instead, complete the worksheet in

activities at locations other than your home. (For example,

Pub. 587.

another company does your billing from its place of business.)

All of the expenses for business use of your home are

You conduct administrative or management activities at

properly allocable to inventory costs. Instead, figure these

places that are not fixed locations of your business, such as in a

expenses in Schedule C, Part III.

car or a hotel room.

You have elected to use the simplified method for this home. If

You occasionally conduct minimal administrative or

you had more than one home during the year that you used for

management activities at a fixed location outside your home.

business, you may only elect to use the simplified method for

You conduct substantial nonadministrative or

one home; you will use Form 8829 to claim expenses for

nonmanagement business activities at a fixed location outside

business use of the other home. For more information about the

your home. (For example, you meet with or provide services to

simplified method, see the Instructions for Schedule C and Pub.

customers, clients, or patients at a fixed location of the business

587.

outside your home.)

Who Can Deduct Expenses for

You have suitable space to conduct administrative or

management activities outside your home, but choose to use

Business Use of a Home

your home office for those activities instead.

Generally, you can deduct business expenses that apply to a

More information. For information on other ways to qualify to

part of your home only if that part is exclusively used on a regular

deduct business use of the home expenses, see Pub. 587.

basis:

Storage of Inventory or Product Samples

As your principal place of business for any of your trades or

businesses,

You can also deduct expenses that apply to space within your

As a place of business used by your patients, clients, or

home used on a regular basis to store inventory or product

customers to meet or deal with you in the normal course of your

samples from your trade or business of selling products at retail

trade or business, or

or wholesale. Your home must be the only fixed location of your

In connection with your trade or business if it is a separate

trade or business.

structure that is not attached to your home.

Daycare Facilities

As explained later, exceptions to this rule apply to space

used on a regular basis for:

If you use space in your home on a regular basis in the trade or

Storage of inventory or product samples, and

business of providing daycare, you may be able to deduct the

Aug 05, 2013

Cat. No. 15683B

Instructions For Form 8829 - Expenses For Business Use Of Your Home - 2013

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