Hi Ms. Brown!

I found your article on the massagetherapy.com website and have a question that no one around seems to be able to answer for me. I work at a friend's massage therapy office that she owns, but I help with supply expenses and do billing for clients from my home. I am considered an independent contractor so I am not sure if I can deduct the home office expense since I do not actually have a business license in my name. I hope that makes sense, but I am wanting to know if it is legal for me to take the home office expense deduction come tax time for 2009. I completely appreciate any advice you can offer me and am grateful for your time.

Thank you very, very much!

Tax Concious Therapist 

Dear TCT -

Thanks so much for your email and question. Let me begin by saying that I am neither an attorney nor an accountant so I do not presume to give legal or accounting advice. That being said, based on my years as a consultant and business owner, I would say the answer is maybe.

From my best understanding of the tax code, the possible home-office deduction is based on you having a dedicated space in your home which is used for a large percentage of your business activities. In my case for example, I have a room in my house (plus a lot of storage space) that I use only for my business. I spend about 50% of my working hours in my home office space and really don't use it for other purposes. However, my business (which is a corporation) actually rents the space from me so it gets the write-off/deduction rather than me personally.

Depending on your set-up, this might be feasible for you to do as well or to take the home office deduction if you cannot rent the space to your business. But if you are simply sitting at your dining room table every so often to do light paperwork for your business, my guess is that the deduction would not really be suitable for you to take. Whether or not you have a business license in your city/state has little to do with this - by working as an independent contractor, you are self-employed and are allowed certain federal and state tax deductions related to operating your business.

To get a complete and accurate answer based on current tax laws, you need to talk to a CPA. I suggest you call your accountant (or find one), explain your exact set-up, how you use the space (and how often), and let him or her determine the best course of action for you to take. If you do qualify for the deduction and are truly an independent contractor/self-employed, you may be able to take some mileage deductions for travel from that office as well.

I hope that helps! Please let me know if you need any clarification or if I can be of additional help to you in the future

Felicia Brown, LMBT
Trainer & Consultant ~ Spalutions!
NCBTMB Approved Provider
Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach
336.508.0790 ~ Direct
www.Spalutions.com
http://blog.spalutions.com/

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