Home Office - What to Furnish for Tax Preparation

Home Office Expense Organizer Home Office Expense Spreadsheet (Excel)

Related Pages: Home Office Deduction ~ Home Office Expense ~ Home Office Rules ~ 

This will assist in compiling information to furnish your CPA.  Generally the CPA is not required by law to observe proof or evidence of expenditures.  However the compilation process can be time consuming.  Furthermore, your CPA is trained to watch for expenditures that are deductible vs. those that must be capitalized, those that are not deductible, etc.

Under all circumstances you, the taxpayer, are responsible for the final results.   Therefore, it is to your advantage to furnish full explanations of all costs pertaining to your home office. 

The following items will assist you to commence determining the total costs of running your home office:

1. Total square footage of the home
2. Square footage used for the home office.
3. Checkbook
4. Bank statements
5. Credit card statements and copies of charge slips
6. Loan documents
7. Proof of casualty losses - repair bills, etc.
8. Proof of theft or vandalism losses, police reports, repair bills, etc.
9. Year-end statement for mortgage interest
10. Year-end statements for property taxes

The following is an abbreviated list of categories you can use to summarize the expenditures or costs.

1. Mortgage interest
2. Real Estate Taxes
3. Insurance
4. Mortgage insurance, FHA insurance etc.
5. Repairs or maintenance
6. Utilities
7. Rent
8. Landscaping
9. Yard and garden maintenance
10.   Improvements made
11. Other

You may not use all the categories, or you may need more.  Adjust the classifications to your requirements.

Home Office Expense Spreadsheet

How this benefits you: This sheet will categorize all the expenditures. It will save you time, and prepare you for the meeting with your CPA. Furthermore, if the Internal Revenue Service audits your home office expenses, then this form will list all the canceled checks that comprise the totals you claimed for home office deductions.  In addition, it will show the payee so that you can find the paid bill for this item. Both the canceled checks and the paid bills will be necessary to defend you from an Internal Revenue Service attack.

Home Office Expense Organizer

How this benefits you:  This will serve you as a reminder of the categories of items which can be used for home office deductions.  If you do not use the spreadsheet this will be a place to write the totals.  If you do not want to spend the time, or you do not have the time to categorize the expenditures or sum the expenditures, then this will serve you to cull the checks, paid bills, etc. to send to your accountant.

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