Why do you (finally) Take Home Office Tax Deductions

home office deduction has long been a nightmare for the American taxpayer documents, including many of the millions of small business owners who working from home. There are no instructions for IRS tax relief runs to 28 pages (actually shorter than the previous year). Small business lobby has asked Congress to streamline the process for years.In a blog post Tuesday, the Obama administration announced recess a home office will be easier to claim for tax year 2013. That means that we still over a year away from the new rules make the difference in your wallet. These changes will save taxpayers 1.6 million hours together preparing tax time next year, the IRS estimates (which are more than 182 years, if you're counting). Under the new option, you can write off the $ 5 per square foot of office space of the home, up to $ 1,500 for 300 square feet. The current process involves a 41-line form which requires the calculation of the taxpayer, among other things, measure the total area of ​​their home, their home office area, and then calculate the percentage of home used for business.It's kind of superabundance fine print in the tax code that encourages crazy people and prevent them from getting cut. Kristie Arslan, president of the National Association for the Self-employed, praised the move in a statement, saying "it will give our members some tax relief next season by allowing them to take their important reductions eligible for long but often leave because of the complexity of the past "is. New IRS rules are not final, and they are looking to cut more than $ 1,500 should probably stick process.Last year I dove into the convoluted history of this part of the tax code. With no clear definition of what type of work at home is allowed to write-off, reducing the original home office is open to abuse: That standard, loose blur invite liberal interpretation of people like Stephen Bodzin. He is an attorney for the IRS, Bodzin try to write off the portion of the rent because he was doing some work at home in the evenings and on weekends. In 1975 (eight years after the tax return is concerned), Bodzin lost the case against the agency he worked as an appeals court found that the house was not his place of business. Instead, "he once, by choice, do some reading and writing at home." Next year, Congress passed a tax reform bill that narrows the definition of home office deductions to avoid news . Today misusing taxpayer not ask questions: If the IRS can simply change the rules without Congressional action, what took them so long?