Why this matters
Home office and vehicle mileage are the two deductions solo founders most often leave on the table, usually out of audit fear or missing records. Both are legitimate IRS deductions with mechanical rules, and TurboTax walks through both. The catch: they reward records kept during the year, not reconstructed in April.
What "done" looks like
- Your home office qualifies: a space used regularly and exclusively for business
- You've measured the space and chosen simplified vs. regular method deliberately
- You have a mileage log with dates, destinations, business purpose, and miles
How to do it
- Confirm the office qualifies, exclusive and regular business use; a dedicated desk area can qualify, the kitchen table generally doesn't.
- Measure the space and calculate both ways: the simplified method allows a deduction of $5 per square foot up to 300 sq ft (max $1,500); the regular method deducts the business-use share of actual home costs via Form 8829.
- Pick the larger option, renters with high housing costs often beat $1,500 with the regular method.
- Reconstruct this year's miles only from reliable contemporaneous evidence, such as your calendar and job records. Consult a tax professional if your records are incomplete, then start a contemporaneous log going forward.
- Apply the standard mileage rate, 70 cents per business mile for 2025 (72.5 cents for 2026), or compare against actual vehicle expenses.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the home office deduction out of audit fear while meeting the rules cleanly
- Claiming a space that's also the family TV room. "Exclusive use" is the test that fails
- Estimating miles as a round number with no log; unsupported mileage is a classic exam adjustment
Real-world examples
- The IRS simplified option, $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, requires no depreciation tracking, per IRS guidance.
- At the IRS's 2025 rate of 70 cents per business mile, 5,000 logged miles is a $3,500 deduction.
From a founder's point of view
These two deductions are a records problem, not a courage problem. The rules are public and mechanical; the only founders who lose are the ones with no log who then either guess or forfeit.
Rule of thumb
If you can show the room and show the log, claim both without flinching; if you can't show the log, start one today.
