Can an employee working from home claim this?

Generally not on a federal return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended unreimbursed employee business expenses, including the home office deduction, for tax years 2018 through 2025, leaving it mainly to the self-employed. Some states still allow a version on the state return.

What does "regular and exclusive use" mean?

The space must be used regularly and exclusively for business, and generally must be your principal place of business or somewhere you meet clients. A dining table used for work and dinner does not qualify. This calculator applies no such test.

Does it calculate the simplified method?

No. The simplified option is $5 per square foot of office space up to 300 square feet, a maximum of $1,500, and requires no expense records. Work that figure out yourself and compare it with the regular-method total this tool produces.

What about depreciation?

The total excludes it. Regular-method filers often depreciate the business portion of the home, which increases the deduction now but is recaptured as taxable gain when the house is sold. The calculation function accepts a depreciation figure, but this page provides no field for it.

Does it apply the income limitation?

No. The home office deduction generally cannot exceed the gross income from the business it relates to, with any excess carried forward to a future year. A loss-making business will therefore see a smaller allowable deduction than the figure shown here.

Only partly. Rent is the main housing cost for a renter and there is no rent field, so the largest expense cannot be entered. Rent and mortgage interest are treated differently on Form 8829, so entering rent in the mortgage interest field would misstate the return.

Which form does this figure go on?

Self-employed filers normally report the home office deduction on Form 8829, which flows to Schedule C. This tool produces an estimate to inform that form; it does not generate, populate or file anything, and it covers no state variations.

Home Office Deduction Calculator — Regular (Actual) Method

Home Office Deduction CalculatorThe Home Office Deduction Calculator is a free browser-based tool that estimates the deductible share of your household expenses using the IRS regular, actual-expense method. You enter the total square footage of your home and of the office, then your annual mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, home insurance, and repairs and maintenance. The tool divides office square feet by home square feet to produce a business-use percentage, applies that percentage to every expense, and shows both the allowed amount for each line and the total. It does not compute the simplified square-footage option, does not test whether your space qualifies, and does not apply the income limit on this deduction.

What people use it for

A self-employed designer with one dedicated room

A freelancer working from a 200 square foot spare room in a 2,000 square foot house wants to know what a full year of housing costs is worth as a deduction. Entering the year’s mortgage interest, taxes, utilities, insurance and repairs converts the 10% business-use share into a single figure with each expense line shown separately.

Comparing two possible workspaces

Choosing between a 120 square foot bedroom and a 200 square foot converted garage changes the business-use percentage and therefore every line of the deduction. Running both produces a concrete difference in dollars, which can then be weighed against the practical trade-offs of each room — heating, noise, and whether the space can genuinely be kept for business use alone.

Deciding between the regular and simplified methods

The simplified option is a flat rate per square foot up to 300 square feet, with no expense records required. Computing the regular figure here and comparing it by hand to that flat amount is the only way to know which method is worth the extra recordkeeping in your situation.

Assembling numbers before an accountant meeting

Instead of arriving with a folder of utility bills, print the breakdown showing the office percentage and the allowed portion of each expense. Your preparer can then spend the appointment checking the assumptions — particularly the square footage and whether the space is genuinely used only for business — rather than doing arithmetic you could have done first.

How it works

Enter the total home size This square footage is the denominator of the business-use percentage. Use the finished living area you can actually measure and defend, and apply exactly the same basis to the office measurement below.
Enter the office size It must be greater than zero and no larger than the home. An out-of-range value shows an inline warning under the field and keeps the calculate button disabled until you correct it.
Enter the annual housing costs Five fields cover mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, home insurance, and repairs and maintenance. Enter full-year amounts for the whole property, not the office’s share — computing that share is the tool’s job.
Calculate The result card reports the total deduction and states what percentage of the home the office occupies, followed by five cards showing the allowed portion of each individual expense at that percentage.
Print or save as PDF The totals and the per-expense breakdown print together. Keep the copy with the underlying bills, because the business-use percentage is the figure an examiner is most likely to question.

Worked examples

Input: A 2,000 sq ft home with a 200 sq ft office; mortgage interest $12,000, property taxes $4,000, utilities $3,600, insurance $1,200, repairs $800.

Result: The office is 10.0% of the home, so the allowed amounts are $1,200.00 mortgage interest, $400.00 property taxes, $360.00 utilities, $120.00 insurance and $80.00 repairs — a total deduction of $2,160.00 under the regular method.

Input: A 1,600 sq ft home with a 120 sq ft office; mortgage interest $9,000, property taxes $3,200, utilities $2,800, insurance $900, repairs $600.

Result: The office is 7.5% of the home: $675.00, $240.00, $210.00, $67.50 and $45.00 respectively, totalling $1,237.50. For comparison, the simplified method on 120 square feet at $5 per square foot would give $600 — so the regular method is worth more here, at the cost of keeping records.

Input: A 1,200 sq ft home with the office entered as 1,500 sq ft.

Result: The office field shows "Office size must be greater than 0 and no larger than the home" and the calculate button is disabled. The check exists because an office larger than the home would produce a business-use percentage above 100% and a meaningless deduction.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employee working from home claim this?: Generally not on a federal return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended unreimbursed employee business expenses, including the home office deduction, for tax years 2018 through 2025, leaving it mainly to the self-employed. Some states still allow a version on the state return.
What does "regular and exclusive use" mean?: The space must be used regularly and exclusively for business, and generally must be your principal place of business or somewhere you meet clients. A dining table used for work and dinner does not qualify. This calculator applies no such test.
Does it calculate the simplified method?: No. The simplified option is $5 per square foot of office space up to 300 square feet, a maximum of $1,500, and requires no expense records. Work that figure out yourself and compare it with the regular-method total this tool produces.
What about depreciation?: The total excludes it. Regular-method filers often depreciate the business portion of the home, which increases the deduction now but is recaptured as taxable gain when the house is sold. The calculation function accepts a depreciation figure, but this page provides no field for it.
Does it apply the income limitation?: No. The home office deduction generally cannot exceed the gross income from the business it relates to, with any excess carried forward to a future year. A loss-making business will therefore see a smaller allowable deduction than the figure shown here.
Can renters use it?: Only partly. Rent is the main housing cost for a renter and there is no rent field, so the largest expense cannot be entered. Rent and mortgage interest are treated differently on Form 8829, so entering rent in the mortgage interest field would misstate the return.
Which form does this figure go on?: Self-employed filers normally report the home office deduction on Form 8829, which flows to Schedule C. This tool produces an estimate to inform that form; it does not generate, populate or file anything, and it covers no state variations.

Tips

Measure the office and the home on the same basis — both finished square footage — because a mismatch distorts the percentage that drives every line.
Enter full-year amounts, and prorate first if you only started using the office partway through the year.
The non-office share of mortgage interest and property taxes may still be itemisable on Schedule A; this tool shows only the business portion.
Compare the result against the simplified method (square feet times $5, capped at 300 square feet) before choosing — smaller offices often favour the simplified route.
Photograph the room and note its dimensions; square footage is the single assumption most likely to be challenged.

Written by Ahsan Mahmood. Last updated 2026-07-21. This calculator runs entirely in your browser and produces estimates, not tax advice.TaxEase — Home Office Deduction Calculator