A U.S. company has instructed it's employees to work from home for a period extending 4 weeks following city and state guidelines as a necessary precaution in response to COVID-19. Subsequently company workers have set up makeshift offices at home in. What if anything at all about the "makeshift office" is tax deductible for the 2020 tax season ( -next year).
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You will probably not be able to take a tax deduction for this.
The IRS requires that the space that you use for your home office is that the portion of your house is exclusively and regularly used for business purposes. It also must be the principle place of your business.
Some employees can use the home-office deduction, but there are tests there too:
- Your business use must be for the convenience of your employer
- You cannot rent any portion of your home to your employer
- You have to meet the above (exclusivity/regularly) criteria
It's unlikely that you will be able to deduct a home office expense as a tax deduction for the 2020 tax year (2019 tax year has already passed) due to quarantine measures unless you continue to be quarantined for the remainder of the year (or a significant portion of it).
Ron Beyer
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