8 ms·
I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large
by mstade 9y ago
I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large 4-bed) which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two. It may sound silly to have to literally exit the apartment to enter the office when it's literally next door, but it does have some value. Also it makes it much easier for tax purposes. Consequently a third of my rent is paid by my company, because it rents it as office space. Maybe it sounds weird or immoral or whatever, but it truly is office space and 100% legit, it just happens to be I'm also the landlord.
- brianwawok 9y agoWas it built as an inlaw suite or something? That sounds like a sweet setup.
- dexterdog 9y agoA sweet suite if you will.
- elliotec 9y agoOh, I will
- mstade 9y agoI have no idea. It was built quite recently, in 2005 I think, and on the lease it just says "space available to let" or something like that. I've lived here since 2006 or so, but only recently started using the apartment like this. It's perfect!
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- cortesoft 9y agoThis isn't really different than renting an office, just that your office is REALLY close to your apartment.
- mstade 9y agoExactly, which is why it's also 100% legit.
- ethbro 9y agoAlso, really close to the fridge. Which helps on budget as well.
- coldtea 9y agoIt's totally different in that you don't pay an extra rent. The office is just a room in the house with "which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two".
- lukas099 9y agoI'm assuming the rent for the double-apartment is greater than it would be for the single-apartment, so you are paying extra rent.
- coldtea 9y agoTons of houses people already live in have an extra entrance or backdoor -- it's just a locked door between the other rooms. They could live in the same house and pay the same rent without using one room as a separate office -- as millions do.
- lscharen 9y agoI totally get it; I also need a separate space to switch mindsets. Your setup reminds me of an article I read many years ago on these sorts of "tricks" to stay disciplined when working from home. One of the tips an individual used was to 1. Walk out his front door 2. Lock it 3. Walk around the block 4. Re-enter the house And he was now in "work mode". At the end of the day, he reversed the process by walking around the block in the opposite direction in order to "get home". Seemed quite brilliant to me at the time. edit: Just noticed that enraged_camel engages this exact technique below.
- hartator 9y agoWhat's enraged_camel?
- grzm 9y agoHN member 'enraged_camel: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=enraged_camel https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=enraged_camel Your parent is referring to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14265636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14265636
- jdswain 9y agoI used to do something similar. Go out but to a coffee shop and do my emails and planning, then go home and start the real work. I just found it too hard to go straight from breakfast to working at home without some sort of routine to switch to a work state.
- mcbain 9y agoWhen I was working remote for 12 months I did the same kind of thing. I had the added extra of living alone as well. It forced me to get up, shower, put clothes on, see some kind of sunlight, even have a tiny bit of face to face interaction with another human at the convenience store/cafe/sidewalk, and then get home, log in, and probably just procrastinate for an hour or so anyway - but at least I was clean and dressed.
- Nition 9y agoI'm not sure about the US but here in New Zealand, even if you just work in a room in your usual home, you can claim that percent of your home's costs in your business expenses.[1] So I definitely wouldn't say you're doing anything immoral tax-wise. [1] http://www.ird.govt.nz/business-income-tax/expenses/homebus-exp/bit-expenses-homebusinessexp.html http://www.ird.govt.nz/business-income-tax/expenses/homebus-...
- velodrome 9y agoYes, the US has the home business deduction. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587/index.html https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587/index.html
- BatFastard 9y agoBut most accountants suggest you don't take that deduction since they tend to be audited at a much higher rate.
- Tushon 9y agoI'm gonna call a hard citation please on "most accountants don't recommend" you taking a deduction that could get you a boatload of reduced tax liability.
- fnayr 9y agoWell I definitely got that recommendation too. His exact advice was that I shouldn't take it unless the office was it's own sealed off room that was NEVER used for ANY other purpose. He certainly scared me out of taking the deduction.
- dfcab 9y agoAgree, was told same. The requirements are strict and just not worth the hassle. Hope laws can be updated as working from home is more commonplace nowadays.