Electricity and gas are two of the most common utilities that can be written off by self-employed individuals. These utilities are often necessary for the operation of a business, whether it's to power computers and other equipment, heat a home office, or provide lighting.
You can deduct the mortgage interest you paid during the tax year on the first $750,000 of your mortgage debt for your primary home or a second home. If you are married filing separately, the limit drops to $375,000.
You may look for ways to reduce costs including turning to your tax return. Some taxpayers have asked if homeowner's insurance is tax deductible. Here's the skinny: You can only deduct homeowner's insurance premiums paid on rental properties. Homeowner's insurance is never tax deductible your main home.
Mortgage interest deduction
You can deduct the interest paid up to $750,000 of mortgage debt if you're an individual taxpayer or a married couple filing a joint tax return. For married couples filing separately, the limit is $375,000. If you bought your home before Dec.
Your house payment.
Some nondeductible expenses that may be included in your house payment include: Fire or homeowner's insurance premiums, Mortgage insurance premiums, and. The amount applied to reduce the principal of the mortgage.
Generally, you can write off the percentage of your bill that correlates to the square footage percentage that your office space takes up in your home. If your home is 1,000 square feet and your office is 150 square feet, then you can write off 15% of your bill (for each utility) as a home office expenses tax.
As a homeowner, you'll face property taxes at a state and local level. You can deduct up to $10,000 of property taxes as a married couple filing jointly – or $5,000 if you are single or married filing separately. Depending on your location, the property tax deduction can be very valuable.
$300 maximum claims rule
This rule states that if the total of your work-related expenses is $300 or less (not including car, travel, and overtime meal expenses, which can be claimed separately), you can claim the total amount as a tax deduction without receipts.
WATER AND SEWER CHARGES ARE NOT DEDUCTIBLE.
Housing and Utilities standards include mortgage or rent, property taxes, interest, insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas, electric, water, heating oil, garbage collection, residential telephone service, cell phone service, cable television, and Internet service.
The maximum credit you can claim each year is: $1,200 for energy efficient property costs and certain energy efficient home improvements, with limits on exterior doors ($250 per door and $500 total), exterior windows and skylights ($600) and home energy audits ($150)
This means calculating the business use percentage of your utility bill. For instance, if the monthly utility bill is $210 and all units are similar in size, as the landlord, you can claim a $140 deduction for utility expenses, given that the remaining $70 (one-third of the total bill) was used by you.
Employees are not eligible to claim the home office deduction. The home office deduction, calculated on Form 8829, is available to both homeowners and renters. There are certain expenses taxpayers can deduct. These may include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, maintenance, depreciation and rent.
A utility bill is a monthly payment due for essential services. Public utilities include electricity, water, and natural gas, waste management, recycling, and wastewater. Although some may not think of them as essential utilities, bills such as landline, cell phone and Internet services are also considered utilities.
If you only use your car for personal use, then you likely can't deduct your car insurance premiums from your taxable income. Generally, you need to use your vehicle for business-related reasons (other than as an employee) to deduct part of your car insurance premiums as a business expense.
The only way to deduct your closing costs is to provide a list of itemized deductions. This requires a bit of forethought. You can't take the standard deduction while also deducting your original closing costs. Therefore, it's up to you to pick which one offers the best tax advantages for your finances.
Aside from the mortgage itself, the average home owner pays an additional $18,118 every year in "hidden costs." All those expenses come with a silver lining, however -- tax credits and deductions for your home that can lead to a bigger tax refund.
The California Constitution provides a $7,000 reduction in the taxable value for a qualifying owner-occupied home. The home must have been the principal place of residence of the owner on the lien date, January 1st.
You could write off all or some of your original purchase price after the first year, using the Section 179 deduction. This special deduction is an IRS Tax Code section that allows business owners to write off the allowed purchase price of your car in the year it was purchased or financed.