No Kids

[cillybean83]

I was wondering, since my dck's are out due to icy roads, I figured I would use the day to clean the playroom, bleach the toys, clean the carpets, wash the windows, etc...do I still count today as a "work" day since I'm cleaning THEIR room??

Also, my husband and I were arguing about the "home office" credit on our taxes, I called the IRS and asked if the home office had to be an traditional "office" with a desk and computer or if a daycare room inside my home that was used solely for daycare use during daycare hours was also considered an "office" and they said it was because their definition of office is "a space in which you conduct business" and watching kids is my business.

Well my husband says that's wrong and is freaking out about it and wants me to change everything in our taxes to say that we do not have a home office.

this probably belongs in the tax section at this point...sorry

[cillybean83]

thanks for moving this for me, i was sitting here trying to figure out how to move posts

[DCMomOf3]

thanks for moving this for me, i was sitting here trying to figure out how to move posts

Glad I could help.

[TomCopeland]

Home office

You can count all hours you spend in your home doing work for your business, whether children are present or not. So, the time you spent cleaning, etc. counts as the business use of your home.

The rules for a home office are different for family child care than any other home office business. All other businesses must use a room exclusively for their business before they can deduct expenses for their home. Family child care providers can deduct home expenses as long as they have rooms that are "regularly" used for their business (this means about 2-3 times a week used for business). Some providers also have exclusive use rooms where there is no personal use at all. If you have an exclusive use room see the Instructions to Form 8829 or my Record Keeping Guide or Tax Workbook or Tax Companion for details on how to show your time-space calculation on Form 8829.