Claiming Some Expenses But Not Others.....

[Loveyoustinkyface]

I plan to claim:
Food (snacks, lunches)
Baby furniture (PnP, walkers, bouncy seats)
Toys
Supplies (wet wipes, bibs, plastic cups and plates)
Art & Craft supplies
Outings (admissions to play areas, parks)

I do not plan on claiming:
Cell Phone (DH claims this with his own business)
Time & Space
Repairs
Utilities
Home Ins & Flood Ins
Mortgage Interest
House depreciation

The reason being...it seems to difficult! and besides my DH claims (jointly) some of this stuff. Can two businesses claim the same things??????

Thanks Tom!

[TomCopeland]

Expenses

I plan to claim:
Food (snacks, lunches)
Baby furniture (PnP, walkers, bouncy seats)
Toys
Supplies (wet wipes, bibs, plastic cups and plates)
Art & Craft supplies
Outings (admissions to play areas, parks)

I do not plan on claiming:
Cell Phone (DH claims this with his own business)
Time & Space
Repairs
Utilities
Home Ins & Flood Ins
Mortgage Interest
House depreciation

The reason being...it seems to difficult! and besides my DH claims (jointly) some of this stuff. Can two businesses claim the same things??????

Thanks Tom!

You always want to claim business expenses you are entitled to claim. This includes everything that you have listed that you won't claim (if your husband claims 100% of the cell phone for his business, then don't try to claim it for your business). However, you must claim your time-space % of your mortgage interest and property tax on Form 8829. If your time-space % is 40% then you would claim 40% of these items on Form 8829. If your husband also uses your home for his business, then he claims his business portion on his business tax form. Let's say he claims 10% of these expenses. The remaining 50% of these expenses goes on your Schedule A to itemize. You aren't claiming these expenses twice. You are spreading them over the proper forms. An expense you claim on Form 8829 is worth more in lowering your taxes than amounts claimed on Schedule A.

You always want to claim house depreciation because it's a big expense and you will owe taxes on this amount when you sell your home, even if you don't claim it.

I urge you to claim all of these expenses! Contact me if you have further questions: 651-280-5991.

[TheGoodLife]

Another last minute question for Tom

Since I'm showing a loss, TurboTax is showing that if I claim 100% of my mortgage interest on Schedule A instead of spreading it between A and 8890 my refund is significantly higher. Can I choose to claim all of it on Schedule A? Or am I required to use my T/S for the business deduction? (I'm having a hard time getting it right in the first place with TurboTax because we bought the house in April 2012, started my home daycare in August of 2012, so my T/S of those home expenses is lower than my other expenses that I calculated starting when my business started.)

[TomCopeland]

loss

Since I'm showing a loss, TurboTax is showing that if I claim 100% of my mortgage interest on Schedule A instead of spreading it between A and 8890 my refund is significantly higher. Can I choose to claim all of it on Schedule A? Or am I required to use my T/S for the business deduction? (I'm having a hard time getting it right in the first place with TurboTax because we bought the house in April 2012, started my home daycare in August of 2012, so my T/S of those home expenses is lower than my other expenses that I calculated starting when my business started.)

If you can claim these expenses on Form 8829, you must. Doing so, will usually always result in lower taxes, so I'm not sure why yours is showing a better deal by claiming it on Schedule A.