Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bill Introduced to Allow Home Office Standard Deduction

Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez (D-TX) have introduced the Home Office Tax Deduction Simplification and Improvement Act of 2009. The bipartisan bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, would direct the Treasury Secretary to create an optional, easy-to-use standard deduction to encourage greater use of the home office tax incentive. In addition to instituting an optional home office tax deduction, the [bill] would require the IRS to streamline its reporting requirements to clearly identify the portion of the deduction devoted to real estate taxes, mortgage interest and depreciation in order to further reduce the burden on the taxpayer....

Recent research from the U.S. Small Business Administration indicates that roughly 53% of America’s small businesses are home-based, but few home businesses actually take advantage of the tax incentive because of the complex, rigid reporting requirements.