Three Reasons For Not Having A Home Office
Are you thinking about becoming self-employed and wonder what your options are as far as getting an office? If you are thinking about setting up an office at home, you might want to think again. Here are three reasons to not have a home office.
Harder to Separate Work Life from Family Life
If you are run a business that is trying to generate customers or you have to meet with people on a regular basis, a home office might not work so well. It might become awkward for other professionals to come to your home to make an important business deal. If you share your home with your family, there also might be a lack of privacy issue. This is especially true if you have kids at home. There's not much you can do about a two-year old throwing a tantrum when you're trying to participate on a conference call. Even though your family knows you work from home, they may still try to vie for your attention.
Harder to Get Out and Socialize
Working from home might not provide enough opportunities for socializing. While this might not seem like such a big deal, socializing provides a great way to network with other professionals. This can include going on lunch dates, meeting for coffee, or going out for drinks after closing time. Other social advantages for having an office outside of the home include feeling less lonely and being more accessible to potential customers.
Harder to Get By the IRS
One more reason it's better to have an office away from home is for tax purposes. Because of the amount of tax deductions small businesses can take, the IRS scrutinizes them more than any other entity. When you have a home office, the rules are stricter about what you can deduct. For example, you must use your space entirely for your business. If you also use this space for personal reasons, you can't make the deduction.
When you have an office away from home, there are less tax hurdles to overcome. If you have questions about how to claim your office space on your taxes, contact a tax services professional and they will be able to help.
While there are pros and cons to having an office outside of the home, it is a fact that doing so will make it easier to separate your work life from family life, make it easier to socialize and meet with others, and you won't have to worry as much at tax time.
Talk to professionals like RJ. Garner CPA & Associates, PLC for more information.
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