The Work At Home Freedom ~ Tips & Advice

Tax time for many people can be either REALLY exciting or REALLY scary and nerve racking.  Many people will start a home based business simply for the Tax Advantages one receives in working from home.

You see, when you decide to begin a home based business and venture off to find your own success while having the luxury of working at home in your pajamas you also get some tax perks in there.  When you work from home you are able to claim many deductions that you couldn't claim while working outside of your home.

When working from home you are able to deduct a portion of your mortgage interest, insurance and taxes.  In addition to that you are also able to deduct a portion of your utility bills as well as repairs you might need to do.  Now, your deduction will depend on the size of your 'home office'.  What I mean here is that its decided by percentage with taking your square footage of your home and then the square footage of your office to determine how much you are able to deduct.  My home office is 120 square feet and my home is 2600 square feet.  With this I am able to deduct 4.6% of all my household utilities.  Should I re-carpet my home or install wood floors I'll be able to deduct my office portion as well.  So this deduction alone is great and helpful come tax time.

Aside from being able to deduct a portion of your home you are able to deduct what you spend on your new business.  So this means if you need to mail information out the postage is tax deductible.  If you spend money on the purchase of leads or advertisements you will deduct this as well.  If you take any trips related to your business or use your vehicle for business purposes they become tax deductible as well.

Sandy Botkin, a Certified Public Accountant and former IRS Attorney has written an article  "If You Don't Have a Home Based Business, Start One Today!" and is the author of "Lower Your Taxes Big Time" . I have had the privilege to hear him speak on taxes.  Yes, I too thought I'd be bored out of my mind but his one hour discussion was not nearly long enough.  Take a moment to read his article and purchase his book if you can because its full of great information to better help you get more back at the end of the year.  He explains that when you work outside of the home you really aren't making that much money.

When you choose to begin a home business there will be a start up cost and a monthly overhead cost.  Overhead is what it costs to run a business.  While most business owners can expect to pay THOUSANDS a month in overhead yours will be generally small as most home businesses require around 50/mo in fee's.  The start up and monthly fees are tax deductible as well.

The bottom line is that a home based business offers plenty of lifestyle-related advantages, but it also has benefits from some great tax write-off possibilities.  Take some time to learn more about them once you begin a home business and maximize your home based business's financial success.