IRS Offers New Simplified Option For Businesses Claiming Home ...

IRS Says Eligible Home-Based Businesses May Deduct up to $1,500; Saves Taxpayers 1.6 Million Hours A Year

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced?a simplified option that many owners of home-based businesses and some home-based workers may use to figure their deductions for the business use of their homes.

In tax year 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available, nearly 3.4 million taxpayers claimed deductions for business use of a home (commonly referred to as the home office deduction).

The new optional deduction, capped at $1,500 per year based on $5 a square foot for up to 300 square feet, will reduce the paperwork and recordkeeping burden on small businesses by an estimated 1.6 million hours annually.

?This is a common-sense rule to provide taxpayers an easier way to calculate and claim the home office deduction,? said Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller. ?The IRS continues to look for similar ways to combat complexity and encourages people to look at this option as they consider tax planning in 2013.?

The new option provides eligible taxpayers an easier path to claiming the home office deduction. Currently, the IRS?generally requires a home-based business to fill out a 43-line form (Form 8829) often with complex calculations of allocated expenses, depreciation and carryovers of unused deductions.? Taxpayers claiming the optional deduction will complete a significantly simplified form.

Though homeowners using the new option cannot depreciate the portion of their home used in a trade or business, they can claim allowable mortgage interest, real estate taxes and casualty losses on the home as itemized deductions on Schedule A. These deductions need not be allocated between personal and business use, as is required under the regular method.

Business expenses unrelated to the home, such as advertising, supplies and wages paid to employees are still fully deductible.

Current restrictions on the home office deduction, such as the requirement that a home office must be used regularly and exclusively for business and the limit tied to the income derived from the particular business, still apply under the new option.?

The new simplified option is available starting with the 2013 return most taxpayers file early in 2014. Further details on the new option can be found in Revenue Procedure 2013-13, posted?on IRS.gov. Revenue Procedure 2013-13 is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and the IRS welcomes public comment on this new option to improve it for tax year 2014 and later years. There are three ways to submit comments.

• E-mail to: Notice.Comments@irscounsel.treas.gov. Include ?Rev. Proc. 2013-13? in the subject line.
• Mail to: Internal Revenue Service, CC:PA:LPD:PR (Rev. Proc. 2013-13), Room 5203, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044.
• Hand deliver?to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (Rev. Proc. 2013-13), Courier?s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The deadline for comment is April 15, 2013.

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

If you need help?with these or other health benefit or other?human resources, employee benefit,?insurance, compensation or?other compliance,?risk management, enforcement or management concerns, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer may be able to help.

A Fellow in?the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, State Bar of Texas and American Bar Association, Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, the Former Chair of the ABA RPTE?Employee Benefit & Compensation Group and current Co-Chair of its Welfare Benefit Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Committee, an ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Council Representative, and Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section, Ms. Stamer is nationally and internationally?recognized for her experience and skill aiding clients with a diverse range of?employment, employee benefits, health and safety, public policy, and other compliance and risk management concerns.?

Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and expert panels of HR.com, Employee Benefit News, InsuranceThoughtLeadership.com, and Solutions Law Press, Inc., management attorney and consultant Ms. Stamer?has 25 years of leading edge experience?helping employers; health and other employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; TPAs, insurers, governments, employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; and others design, administer and defend innovative workforce, compensation, employee benefit ?and management policies and practices.?? Her experience includes extensive work representing advising these and other clients, governmental bodies, insurance and financial services organizations, third party administrators and others to develop, design, defend and administer creative health, disability, severance and other employee benefit and compensation arrangements, products and services.? She also helps these and other clients monitor, address and respond to federal, state, and international health care?and insurance and other regulatory, legislative, audit and enforcement developments. Ms. Stamer? has worked, extensively on these and other workforce and performance related matters.??In addition to her continuous day-to-day involvement helping businesses to manage employment and employee benefit plan concerns, she also has extensive public policy and regulatory experience with these and other matters domestically and internationally.? A former member of the Executive Committee of the Texas Association of Business?and past Government Affairs Committee Legislative Chair for the Dallas Human Resources Management Association, Ms. Stamer served as a primary advisor to the Government of Bolivia on its pension privatization?law, and has been intimately?involved in federal, state, and international?workforce, health care, pension and social security, tax, education, immigration, education and other legislative and regulatory reform in the US and abroad.? She also is recognized for her publications, industry leadership, workshops and presentations on these and other human resources concerns and regularly speaks and conducts training on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, and many other national and local publications. For more?information about Ms. Stamer and her experience or to get access to other publications by Ms. Stamer see here?or contact Ms. Stamer directly.?Ms. Stamer regularly works with agencies, publishes and speaks extensively on human resources and employee benefits,??medical and other privacy and data security, health and managed care industry regulatory, staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, public policy, reimbursement and other operations and risk management concerns.? Her publications and insights? on HIPAA and other data privacy and security concerns appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications.??? You can get more information about her HIPAA and other experience here.

If you need help?with these or other compliance concerns, wish to ask about arranging for compliance audit or training, or need legal representation on other matters please contact Ms. Stamer at (469) 767-8872 or via e-mail here.?

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.?

Solutions Law Press, Inc.? provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, compensation, data security and privacy, health care, insurance, and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and other key operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested in exploring other Solutions Law Press, Inc. ? tools, products, training and other resources here and reading some of our other Solutions Law Press, Inc.? human resources news here?including the following:

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About Solutions Law Press, Inc.?

Solutions Law Press, Inc.? provides business and management information, tools and solutions, training and education, services and support to help organizations and their leaders promote effective management of legal and operational performance, regulatory compliance and risk management, data and information protection and risk management and other key management objectives.? Solutions Law Press, Inc.? also conducts and assists?businesses and associations to design, present and conduct customized programs and training targeted to their specific audiences and needs.? For additional?information about upcoming programs, to explore becoming a presenting sponsor for an upcoming event, e-mail your request to info@Solutionslawpress.com?? These programs, publications and other resources are provided?only for general informational and educational purposes. Neither the distribution or presentation of these programs and materials to any party nor any statement or information provided in or in connection with?this communication, the program or associated materials are intended?to or shall be construed as establishing an attorney-client relationship,?to constitute?legal advice or provide any assurance or expectation from Solutions Law Press, Inc., the presenter or any related parties. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future Alerts or other information about developments, publications or programs or other updates, send your request to info@solutionslawpress.com.? CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: The following disclaimer is included?to comply with?and in response to U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230 Regulations.? ANY STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT INTENDED OR WRITTEN BY THE WRITER TO BE USED, AND NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CAN BE USED BY YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1) AVOIDING PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED UNDER FEDERAL TAX LAW, OR (2) PROMOTING, MARKETING OR RECOMMENDING TO ANOTHER PARTY ANY TAX-RELATED TRANSACTION OR MATTER ADDRESSED HEREIN.?

?2013 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, P.C.??Non-exclusive license to republish granted to Solutions Law Press, Inc.?? All other rights reserved.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 12:42 AM and is filed under Corporate Compliance, Employers, GINA, Health Plans, HIPAA, Human Resources, Insurance, Internal Controls, Internal Investigations, Privacy, Risk Management, Whistleblower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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