Write It Off! Deduct It!

Book excerpt: Are you paying more taxes than you have to? There are more than nineteen million home-based businesses in the United States—56 percent of all businesses—and they generate $102 billion in annual revenue. As far as the IRS is concerned, a home business is no different than any other business. But there is a difference: not only can you deduct the business expenses that every business is entitled to, you can turn personal, nondeductible expenses into tax-deductible business expenses—if you are careful to follow the rules. No tax software or accountant knows the details of your home-based business like you do, and the IRS is certainly not going to tell you about a deduction you failed to take. This invaluable book not only lists the individual items that are deductible in your home-based business—from utilities to that part of the home where you work—but also explains where to list them on your income tax forms.