By: Jamie Waggoner

Many seniors today have realized they don’t qualify for many tax deductions like they used to when they were younger.

The reason being they probably have their life in order.

“In order” meaning they have most things they own paid off such as, their car or their house.

Despite there may not be many tax deductions left, I am here to tell you about one tax deduction that is still around, so take advantage!

Home Office Deduction

A home office deduction may sound confusing at first, but it is simple: you can have tax deductions if you work at home.  

An example would be a self-employed tax preparer.

Since you are working out of your home you can have a tax deduction based off the things you have for your home office.

Items such as a portion of your real estate taxes, mortgage interest, rent, repairs, even your utilities can become tax deductible when you have a home-based

business.

Tax Free Income

Now as you may have noticed those expenses I named above, you already have those expenses whether you have a business or not—right?

Right.  I mean you have to pay rent no matter what.  Or some other housing cost.

When you have a home office, whatever portion of that housing cost that is legitimately related to your business activity, you get to write off that cost against

your income. 

So let’s say the cost is $4,000, this means that you can earn up to $4,000 income without paying a lick of taxes.

Many seniors have empty bedrooms since the kids have left home making this idea of starting a home-based business even better.

We aren’t trying to talk you into anything, but if you just look at it by the numbers you’ll see that it’s worth considering if you have the time and interest to work

at least part-time out of your home office.

Not just for tax preparers!

Now this isn’t just for tax preparers this is for anyone that has a successful home business!  

This is the best part about this deduction, it is up for grabs even if you aren’t in the tax business.

Statistics suggest that up to 70% of new businesses are based out of the home so while some people think home office deduction is a “red flag,” in reality the

IRS has adjusted its policies based on the huge numbers of people that now work out of their home.

  As long as your deduction is legitimate and you follow the rules it is not the red flag it once was.

Restrictions apply

Now you must make sure the items involved in your tax deduction matches the IRS requirements for the deduction.

To make sure you know more about taxes or even want to have a go at being a home-based tax preparer, head over to prontotaxschool.com for more

information on taxes and courses offered.

We even have two beginner courses completely free! 

About the writer: 

Jamie Waggoner is a Communication Major at University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW).  Jamie’s favorite course at the moment is Integrated Marketing, which shows how smart companies use storytelling and word-of-mouth to develop authentic and compelling relationships with their customers and the general public.  Jamie did not realize when she accepted an internship at Pronto Tax School that she would become a tax expert, but hey, life is full of surprises and that’s a good thing.