IRS Home Office Definition: Does Your Workspace Qualify?

The IRS generally treats a home office as part of your home that you use regularly and exclusively for business, although meeting that description alone does not guarantee a deduction. Your home can be a house, apartment, condominium, mobile home, boat, or similar property with basic living accommodations, and the workspace can be a room or a clearly identifiable portion of one.

Regular use means you use the space for business on an ongoing basis rather than only occasionally, while exclusive use generally means you do not use that area for personal activities. For example, a desk in a corner used only for your business may qualify, but a dining table used for both family meals and work generally will not; limited exceptions to exclusive use apply to certain daycare and inventory-storage situations.

Your home office generally must be your principal place of business, a place where you regularly meet patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of business, or a separate structure used in connection with your business. A home office can also qualify as your principal place of business when you use it regularly and exclusively for administrative or management activities and have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities for that business.

We suggest choosing a clearly defined area and keeping personal activities outside it if you intend to claim a home office deduction; eligibility also depends on your work situation and the applicable tax rules. For ideas on arranging your space, explore our home office setup guide and our Your Ultimate Home Office Guide, a digital download with a printable eBook and workspace setup planner.

Check the product’s listed specifications when evaluating planning a workspace.