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Can you declare home office use for New York State return but not Federal?

Personal Finance & Money Asked by user3621633 on May 19, 2021

Due to the 2018 IRS Tax Law, W-2 employees lose out on most work expense deductions including home office deduction, as I understand it. And for this year, you cannot use the home office deduction due to covid. Has to pass the test for the "convenience of the employer" rule. New York is one of several states which still allow unreimbursed employee deductions and, perhaps, home office deduction.

What I’m wondering is can I declare that I have a home office for my New York State return but not for IRS? What I’m getting it is if IRS is not going to apply the home office deduction for me, why should they know if I have a home office or not? All it does is put a target on my back. If they’re not going to deduct it, what am I gaining? But for New York State, they will deduct employee expenses and, possibly, home office deductions. Using Tax software such as TurboTax, is there a way to declare that I’m using a home office for New York State Tax Return but not declare it for my Federal Return?

One Answer

This question may have a faulty assumption about which information is shared from tax software to the tax authorities. You are concerned that entering home office info in TurboTax for state purposes may arouse the IRS. However, if home office is irrelevant to your federal return, there should be no reason for TurboTax to inform the IRS about your home office. (Whether the IRS would care if they did, is another question).

Review the 'printable' final federal return before submitting. It shouldn't have any reference to home office, even though you entered your home office information in TurboTax.

Correct answer by Orange Coast- reinstate Monica on May 19, 2021

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