[vijis1976]

Myself and my husband both are working. I am working in L1 Visa and my husband is working in L2 Visa. His contract was initially for 1 year from Jan 2007 - Jan 2008.
Currently, his contract has been extended and he is working from home nowonwards. He is paid in hourly basis and not salaried person. I am paid in salary basis.


If we are planning to do the itemized deduction, can we claim the house rent, meals (10 per day), other exps like internet charges. Is there any other exps that he can claim as he is working from home.

I heard one of the tax consultant saying that we can take the exps like house rent, meals as per the state law only if the state we are working and the state of residence is different. Please clarify.

When both income are combined it is crossing higher limit, so just want to make sure that we do not miss anything for tax calculation.
Your advice on this will be greatly appreciated.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

He may be able to claim Business Use of the Home.

However, your situation clearly calls for professional tax help.

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed.

[MukatA]

vijis1976:
The deductions mentioned by can't be claimed as itemized deductions.
Your husband will report his self employed income on schedule C. On schedule C, he can deduct his business related expenses.
Also, home office is deductible if you have a separate room or space in your home that is used exclusively for the business. Then he can deduct rent based on the percentage use. Also he must make sure that he has only the right deductions.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Agreed!