Publication 587
Business Use of Your Home

(Including Use by Day-Care Providers)

For use in preparing 2002 Returns

Sale or Exchange of
Your Home

If you sell or exchange your home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for certain married persons filing a joint return) of the gain on the sale or exchange if you meet the ownership and use tests.

Ownership and use tests.   To claim the exclusion, you must meet the ownership and use tests. This means that during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale, you met both the following tests.

1. You owned the home for at least 2 years (ownership test).
2. You lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years (use test).

Business use during the ownership and use periods.   If you used part of your home for business during the ownership and use periods, the exclusion generally applies only to the gain attributable to the personal part of your home.

Depreciation.   If you were entitled to take depreciation deductions because you used your home for business, you cannot exclude the part of your gain equal to any depreciation allowed or allowable as a deduction for periods after May 6, 1997. If you can show by adequate records or other evidence that the depreciation deduction allowed was less than the amount allowable, the amount you cannot exclude is the amount allowed.

Basis adjustment.   If you used any part of your home for business, you must adjust the basis of your home for any depreciation that was allowable for its business use, even if you did not claim it. If you took less depreciation than you could have under the method you properly selected, you must decrease the basis by the amount you could have taken under that method. If you took more depreciation than you should have under the method you properly selected, you must decrease the basis by the amount you should have deducted, plus the part of the excess deducted that actually decreased your tax liability for any year. For more information on reducing the basis of your property for depreciation, see Publication 551.

More information.   This section covers only the basic rules for the sale or exchange of your home. For more information, see Publication 523.

Business Furniture and Equipment

This section discusses the depreciation and section 179 deductions you may be entitled to take for furniture and equipment you use in your home for business or work as an employee. These deductions are available whether or not you qualify to deduct expenses for the business use of your home.

This section explains the different rules for each of the following.

1. Listed property.
2. Property bought for business use.
3. Personal property converted to business use.

For 2002, you may be entitled to additional depreciation and an increased 179 deduction. For more information, see Section 179 Deduction and Depreciation under Property Bought for Business Use, later.

Listed Property

If you use certain types of property, called listed property, in your home, special rules apply. Listed property includes computers and related equipment and any property of a type generally used for entertainment, recreation, and amusement (including photographic, phonographic, communication, and video recording equipment).

Exception for computers.   Computers and related equipment used exclusively in a qualifying office in your home are not listed property. If you qualify to deduct expenses for the business use of your home (see Qualifying for a Deduction, earlier) and you use your computer exclusively in your qualifying office in the home, do not use the listed property rules discussed below. Instead, follow the rules discussed under Property Bought for Business Use, later.

More-than-50%-use test.   If you bought listed property and placed it in service during the year, you must use it more than 50% for business (including work as an employee) to claim a section 179 deduction or an accelerated depreciation deduction.

If your business use of listed property is 50% or less, you cannot take a section 179 deduction and you must depreciate the property using the Alternate Depreciation System (ADS) (straight line method). For more information on ADS, see chapter 3 in Publication 946.

Listed property meets the more-than-50%-use test for any year if its qualified business use is more than 50% of its total use. You must allocate the use of any item of listed property used for more than one purpose during the year among its various uses. You cannot use the percentage of investment use as part of the percentage of qualified business use to meet the more-than-50%-use test. However, you do use the combined total of business and investment use to figure your depreciation deduction for the property.

Example 1.   Sarah does not qualify to claim a deduction for the business use of her home, but she uses her home computer 40% of the time for a business she operates out of her home. She also uses the computer 50% of the time to manage her investments. Sarah's home computer is listed property because it is not used in a qualified office in her home. She does not use the computer more than 50% for business, so she cannot elect a section 179 deduction. She can use her combined business/investment use (90%) to figure her depreciation deduction using ADS.

Example 2.   If Sarah uses her computer 60% of the time for her business and 30% for managing her investments, her computer meets the more-than-50%-use test. She can elect a section 179 deduction. She can use her combined business/investment use (90%) to figure her depreciation deduction using the General Depreciation System (GDS).

Employee.   If you use your own listed property (or listed property you rent) in your work as an employee, the property is business-use property only if you meet the following requirements.

• The use is for your employer's convenience.
• The use is required as a condition of your employment.

The use of property as a condition of your employment means that it is necessary for you to properly perform your work. Whether the use of the property is required for this purpose depends on all the facts and circumstances. Your employer does not have to tell you specifically to use the property. Nor is a statement by your employer to that effect sufficient.

Years following the year placed in service.   If, in a year after you place an item of listed property in service, you fail to meet the more-than-50%-use test for that item of property, you may be required to do the following.

1. Figure depreciation, beginning with the year you no longer use the property more than 50% for business, using the straight line method.
2. Figure any excess depreciation (include any section 179 deduction on the property in figuring excess depreciation) and add it to:
   1. Your gross income, and
   2. The adjusted basis of your property.

For more information, see Recapture of Excess Depreciation under What Is the Business-Use Requirement? in Publication 946.

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.   If you use listed property in your business, you must file Form 4562 to claim a depreciation or section 179 deduction. Begin with Part V, Section A, of that form.

You cannot take any depreciation or section 179 deduction for the use of listed property unless you can prove your business/investment use with adequate records or sufficient evidence to support your own statements.

To meet the adequate records requirement, you must maintain an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheet, or similar record or other documentary evidence that is sufficient to establish business/investment use. For more information on what records to keep, see What Records Must Be Kept? in chapter 5 of Publication 946.

Property Bought for Business Use

If you bought certain property to use in your business, you can do any one of the following (subject to the limits discussed later).

• Elect a section 179 deduction for the full cost of the property.
• Take part of the cost as a section 179 deduction and depreciate the balance.
• Depreciate the full cost of the property.

Section 179 Deduction

You may be able to claim an increased section 179 deduction if your business qualifies as an enterprise zone business or you place property in service in the New York Liberty Zone. The increase can be as much as $35,000, but it cannot be more than the cost of qualified property which is section 179 property placed in service during the year.

For more information on the increased section 179 deduction, see Liberty Zone Property and Enterprise Zone Businesses under How Much Can You Deduct? in chapter 2 of Publication 946.

You can claim the section 179 deduction for the cost of depreciable tangible personal property bought for use in your trade or business. You can choose how much (subject to the limit) of the cost you want to deduct under section 179 and how much you want to depreciate. You can spread the section 179 deduction over several items of property in any way you choose as long as the total does not exceed the maximum allowable. You cannot take a section 179 deduction for the basis of the business part of your home.

You elect the section 179 deduction by completing Part I of Form 4562.

More information.   For more information on the section 179 deduction, see chapter 2 in Publication 946.

Depreciation

You may be entitled to take a special depreciation allowance (or Liberty Zone depreciation allowance) for qualified property (or Liberty Zone property) you place in service during 2002. The allowance is an additional deduction of 30% of the property's depreciable basis. For more information, see chapter 3, Claiming the Special Depreciation Allowance (or Liberty Zone Depreciation Allowance) in Publication 946.

Use Parts II and III of Form 4562 to claim your deduction for depreciation on property placed in service during the year. Do not include any costs deducted in Part I (section 179 deduction).

Most business property used in a home office is either 5-year or 7-year property under MACRS.

• 5-year property includes computers and peripheral equipment, typewriters, calculators, adding machines, and copiers.
• 7-year property includes office furniture and fixtures such as desks, files, and safes.

Under MACRS, you generally use the half-year convention, which allows you to deduct a half year of depreciation in the first year you use the property in your business. If you place more than 40% of your depreciable property in service during the last 3 months of your tax year, you must use the mid-quarter convention instead of the half-year convention.

After you have determined the cost of the depreciable property (minus any section 179 deduction and special depreciation allowance taken on the property) and whether it is 5-year or 7-year property, use the table, shown next, to figure your depreciation if the half-year convention applies.

See Publication 946 for a discussion of the mid-quarter convention and for complete MACRS percentage tables.

Example.   During the year, Donald Kent bought a desk and three chairs for use in his office. His total bill for the furniture was $1,975. His taxable business income for the year was $3,000 without any deduction for the office furniture. Donald can elect to do one of the following.

• Take a section 179 deduction for the full cost of the office furniture.
• Take part of the cost of the furniture as a section 179 deduction and depreciate the balance.
• Depreciate the full cost of the office furniture.

The furniture is 7-year property. If Donald does not take a section 179 deduction, he multiplies $1,975, the cost of the furniture, by 30% to figure his special depreciation allowance of $593. His depreciable basis after the special allowance is $1,382 ($1,975 - $593). He then multiplies $1,382 by 14.29% (.1429) to get his MACRS depreciation deduction of $197.49.

Personal Property Converted to Business Use

If you use property in your home office that was used previously for personal purposes, you cannot take a section 179 deduction for the property. You can depreciate it, however. The method of depreciation you use depends on when you first used the property for personal purposes.

If you began using the property for personal purposes after 1986 and change it to business use in 2002, depreciate the property under MACRS.

The basis for depreciation of property changed from personal to business use is the lesser of the following.

1. The adjusted basis of the property on the date of change.
2. The fair market value of the property on the date of change.

If you began using the property for personal purposes after 1980 and before 1987 and change it to business use in 2002, you generally depreciate the property under the accelerated cost recovery system (ACRS). However, if the depreciation under ACRS is greater in the first year than the depreciation under MACRS, you must depreciate it under MACRS. For information on ACRS, see Publication 534, Depreciating Property Placed in Service Before 1987.

If you began using the property for personal purposes before 1981 and change it to business use in 2002, depreciate the property by the straight line or declining balance method based on salvage value and useful life.

Recordkeeping

You do not have to use a particular method of recordkeeping, but you must keep records that provide the information needed to figure your deductions for the business use of your home. You should keep canceled checks, receipts, and other evidence of expenses you paid.

Your records must show the following information.

• The part of your home you use for business.
• That you use part of your home exclusively and regularly for business as either your principal place of business or as the place where you meet or deal with clients or customers in the normal course of your business. (However, see the earlier discussion, Exceptions to Exclusive Use.)
• The depreciation and expenses for the business part.

You must keep your records for as long as they are important for any tax law. This is usually the later of the following dates.

1. 3 years from the return due date or the date filed.
2. 2 years from the date the tax was paid.

Keep records to prove your home's depreciable basis. This includes records of when and how you acquired your home, your original purchase price, any improvements to your home, and any depreciation you are allowed because you maintained an office in your home. You can keep copies of Forms 8829 or the Publication 587 worksheets as records of depreciation.

For more information on recordkeeping, see Publication 583.

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