How do I accurately expense a new roof for my home-based business?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
January 26, 2025
1 reply
0 views

My wife and I work out of our home, and we bought a new roof this year. I believe we are able to claim that as a business expense, but I'm confused on how to do this accurately.

MindyB

Yes, you can include the cost of the roof with your home office expenses.

Use the magnifying glass on the top right of TurboTax online and search "home office", and choose " Jump to home office expenses."
Edit the business, go to home office and start/edit using pencil icon
You will see the home office listed if you already began working on it, choose the pencil to edit, or Add if nothing was started.
Answer the questions until you get to the screen that says "Based on this info, your simplified home office deduction is: $XYZ"
To expense the roof, you will select "No, I want to take actual expenses." (You cannot claim the roof plus the simplified deduction)
Continue until you get to "Home Office Asset Summary"
On the Depreciating Your Home screen, Choose "An improvement to your home" and enter the cost.

joe-millsAuthor

Thanks so much for that answer! Super helpful. One follow-up question. Do I take the whole expense? Or just a percentage based on the size of my office in relation to the size of my home?