II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3371 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to simplify the deduction 

for use of a portion of a residence as a home office by providing 

an optional standard home office deduction. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2008 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to simplify 

the deduction for use of a portion of a residence as 

a home office by providing an optional standard home 

office deduction. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home Office Tax De5 duction Simplification and Improvement Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPTIONAL STANDARD HOME OFFICE DEDUCTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 280A of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exceptions 


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1 for certain business or rental use; limitation on deductions 

2 for such use) is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(7) ELECTION OF STANDARD HOME OFFICE

5 DEDUCTION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi7 vidual who is allowed a deduction for the use of 

8 a portion of a dwelling unit as a business by 

9 reason of paragraph (1), (2), or (4), notwith10 standing the limitations of paragraph (5), if 

11 such individual elects the application of this 

12 paragraph for the taxable year with respect to 

13 such dwelling unit, such individual shall be al14 lowed a deduction equal to the standard home 

15 office deduction for the taxable year in lieu of 

16 the deductions otherwise allowable under this 

17 chapter for such taxable year by reason of para18 graph (1), (2), or (4). 

19 ‘‘(B) STANDARD HOME OFFICE DEDUC20 TION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

22 this paragraph, the standard home office 

23 deduction is an amount equal to the prod24 uct of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the applicable home office 

2 standard rate, and 

3 ‘‘(II) the square footage of the 

4 portion of the dwelling unit to which 

5 paragraph (1), (2), or (4) applies. 

6 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE HOME OFFICE

7 STANDARD RATE.—For purposes of this 

8 subparagraph, the term ‘applicable home 

9 office standard rate’ means the rate appli10 cable to the taxpayer’s category of busi11 ness, as determined and published by the 

12 Secretary for the 3 categories of businesses 

13 described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) 

14 for the taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM SQUARE FOOTAGE

16 TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The Secretary 

17 shall determine and publish annually the 

18 maximum square footage that may be 

19 taken into account under clause (i)(II) for 

20 each of the 3 categories of businesses de21 scribed in paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) for 

22 the taxable year. 

23 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF ELECTION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro25 vided in clause (ii), any election under this 


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1 paragraph, once made by the taxpayer with 

2 respect to any dwelling unit, shall continue 

3 to apply with respect to such dwelling unit 

4 for each succeeding taxable year. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ONE-TIME ELECTION PER

6 DWELLING UNIT.—A taxpayer who elects 

7 the application of this paragraph in a tax8 able year with respect to any dwelling unit 

9 may revoke such application in a subse10 quent taxable year. After so revoking, the 

11 taxpayer may not elect the application of 

12 this paragraph with respect to such dwell13 ing unit in any subsequent taxable year. 

14 ‘‘(D) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro16 vided in clause (ii), in the case of a tax17 payer who elects the application of this 

18 paragraph for the taxable year, no other 

19 deduction or credit shall be allowed under 

20 this subtitle for such taxable year for any 

21 amount attributable to the portion of a 

22 dwelling unit taken into account under this 

23 paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR DISASTER

25 LOSSES.—A taxpayer who elects the appliVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:41 Aug 01, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371

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1 cation of this paragraph in any taxable 

2 year may take into account any disaster 

3 loss described in section 165(i) as a loss 

4 under section 165 for the applicable tax5 able year, in addition to the standard home 

6 office deduction under this paragraph for 

7 such taxable year. 

8 ‘‘(E) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

9 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary 

10 to carry out the purposes of this paragraph.’’. 

11 (b) MODIFICATION OF HOME OFFICE BUSINESS USE

12 RULES.— 

13 (1) PLACE OF MEETING.—Subparagraph (B) of 

14 section 280A(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(B) as a place of business which is used 

17 by the taxpayer in meeting or dealing with pa18 tients, clients, or customers in the normal 

19 course of the taxpayer’s trade or business, or’’. 

20 (2) DE MINIMIS PERSONAL USE.—Paragraph 

21 (1) of section 280A(c) of such Code is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘for the convenience of his employer’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘for the convenience of such employee’s 

24 employer. A portion of a dwelling unit shall not fail 

25 to be deemed as exclusively used for business for 


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1 purposes of this paragraph solely because a de mini2 mis amount of non-business activity may be carried 

3 out in such portion’’. 

4 (c) REPORTING OF EXPENSES RELATING TO HOME

5 OFFICE DEDUCTION.—Within 60 days after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

7 shall ensure that all forms and schedules used to calculate 

8 or report itemized deductions and profits or losses from 

9 business or farming state separately amounts attributable 

10 to real estate taxes, mortgage interest, and depreciation 

11 for purposes of the deductions allowable under paragraphs 

12 (1), (2), (4), and (7) of section 280A(c) of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986. 

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

16 December 31, 2008. 

Æ 


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