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People don't realize that as a contractor, you can write off the room you're using for your office. As a remote employee you cannot. For people living in high r

People don't realize that as a contractor, you can write off the room you're using for your office. As a remote employee you cannot. For people living in high rent areas, that's significant.

matsemann 6y ago
Where I live that office has to be a "proper office" in a sense, where you could have clients stopping by. Not just working from a room next to your exercise bike and laundry. Here the tax law is mostly written with hair stylists and others in mind, using a room for customers with its own entrance.
- eloff 6y ago
  Where is that?
  - telesilla 6y ago
    Countries like the Netherlands expect you to have a separate entrance and bathroom before you can claim it. Others allow you to claim a percentage of your living space and utilities. It varies around the world.
alistairSH 6y ago
Not always. Highly dependent on country/state and actual usage of space (dedicated office space vs a desk/chair in the corner of the bedroom). Hire a CPA if you are unsure.
LilBytes 6y ago
You can in Australia. I am and have done so for many years. This was also the case prior to Covid. The tax office did make some changes last year to make it easier for people to write off certain expenses when working from home. [1] These changes did not impact me though however, as the new "quick and efficent" method still provided me with a much smaller tax return than documenting all of my own costs. [2] [1] https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Home-office-expenses/ https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Ded... [3] https://www.ato.gov.au/General/COVID-19/Support-for-individuals-and-employees/Employees-working-from-home/ https://www.ato.gov.au/General/COVID-19/Support-for-individu...
OJFord 6y ago
People don't realise that on the internet you need to mention a jurisdiction when you talk about things like law and tax.
- cercatrova 6y ago
  Sites like HN, reddit, Twitter etc are de facto US based, assume if no country or jurisdiction is specified that it's the US. Now, which state it is in the US is a different matter.
  - tasuki 6y ago
    Fyi I downvoted you because I'm based outside of the US.
    - cercatrova 6y ago
      That's fine, some people are of course. But when you look at what people mean when they provide no jurisdiction, it always seems to mean the US. That's all I meant by de facto US based, because if it weren't, wouldn't people state the jurisdiction as "US"? They don't, so it must mean that the US is what is assumed.
      - tasuki 6y ago
        > But when you look at what people mean when they provide no jurisdiction, it always seems to mean the US. Indeed this seems to be the case. Being based outside the US, I find that somewhat annoying :)

People don't realize that as a contractor, you can write off the room you're using for your office. As a remote employee you cannot. For people living in high rent areas, that's significant.

matsemann 6y ago

Where I live that office has to be a "proper office" in a sense, where you could have clients stopping by. Not just working from a room next to your exercise bike and laundry. Here the tax law is mostly written with hair stylists and others in mind, using a room for customers with its own entrance.

eloff 6y ago
Where is that?
- telesilla 6y ago
  Countries like the Netherlands expect you to have a separate entrance and bathroom before you can claim it. Others allow you to claim a percentage of your living space and utilities. It varies around the world.

alistairSH 6y ago

Not always. Highly dependent on country/state and actual usage of space (dedicated office space vs a desk/chair in the corner of the bedroom). Hire a CPA if you are unsure.

LilBytes 6y ago

You can in Australia. I am and have done so for many years. This was also the case prior to Covid. The tax office did make some changes last year to make it easier for people to write off certain expenses when working from home. [1] These changes did not impact me though however, as the new "quick and efficent" method still provided me with a much smaller tax return than documenting all of my own costs. [2] [1] https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Home-office-expenses/ https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Ded... [3] https://www.ato.gov.au/General/COVID-19/Support-for-individuals-and-employees/Employees-working-from-home/ https://www.ato.gov.au/General/COVID-19/Support-for-individu...

OJFord 6y ago

People don't realise that on the internet you need to mention a jurisdiction when you talk about things like law and tax.

cercatrova 6y ago
Sites like HN, reddit, Twitter etc are de facto US based, assume if no country or jurisdiction is specified that it's the US. Now, which state it is in the US is a different matter.
- tasuki 6y ago
  Fyi I downvoted you because I'm based outside of the US.
  - cercatrova 6y ago
    That's fine, some people are of course. But when you look at what people mean when they provide no jurisdiction, it always seems to mean the US. That's all I meant by de facto US based, because if it weren't, wouldn't people state the jurisdiction as "US"? They don't, so it must mean that the US is what is assumed.
    - tasuki 6y ago
      > But when you look at what people mean when they provide no jurisdiction, it always seems to mean the US. Indeed this seems to be the case. Being based outside the US, I find that somewhat annoying :)