Tax Court: Accountant Cannot Deduct Bathroom as Home Office

One of the attractions of a home based business is the possibility – when carefully documented of course – of deducting part of one’s home as an “office expense”. A portion of the rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. can be deducted in theory for exclusive business use.

But some people who work at home get a bit overzealous like this accountant:

Tax Court: Accountant Cannot Deduct Bathroom as Home Office

Petitioner used one of the bedrooms of his residence exclusively as his office for his accounting business. Petitioner argued that he also used the hallway and the bathroom adjacent to this bedroom exclusively for his accounting business. Petitioner testified, however, that his children and other personal guests occasionally used the bathroom. Accordingly, the hallway and the bathroom were not used exclusively for business purposes. …