Claiming a travel trailer as an art studio (not living in it) while traveling the USA

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
May 23, 2018
1 reply
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Hello,

My husband and I are looking to house-sit for the next year or two. I am an artist, and will need to bring all my art supplies with us, and I need a space to work from. I am looking at purchasing a small travel trailer to use as my art studio while we travel from house sit to house sit. We do not plan on living or sleeping in the trailer. It is strictly for my studio. I need to travel for work, as I work with reclaimed materials that I collect from country thrift stores and estate sales, and, I work with plant dyes that I collect throughout the states.

Would this trailer class as a tax deduction for my studio? Can I claim it while we are on the road? We will not have a home base as such. Can I claim mileage, fuel, depreciation, interest etc. Would it be better if we bought a larger trailer, and lived in that and claimed a section as my business space? I would prefer to have the trailer be its own, stand alone studio. Thanks.

Carl11_2

Employee

I am assuming the trailer is something that has a hitch on it, and requires a separately motorized vehicle in order to move/tow it. That being the case, the trailer is not a deduction "per-se". It's classified as a business asset and depreciated over time. Generally for trailers they're depreciated over 5 years.