Can I claim home office deduction as a law firm partner working from home?

You can claim a home office deduction as a law firm partner, but there are specific requirements you need to meet. Since you receive K-1 income as a partner rather than W-2 wages, you would report the home office deduction on Schedule C (for the portion of your home used exclusively and regularly for business). Based on what you've described, you likely qualify because you're using the space exclusively for business and it's your principal place of business (40+ hours weekly vs. visiting the firm office only occasionally). The fact that the firm maintains a separate office doesn't automatically disqualify you as long as your home office is where you conduct the substantial majority of your work. Since you're conducting client meetings (even virtually) from this space and performing your essential job functions there, the IRS would generally consider this your principal place of business. Just make sure you're documenting your work patterns and maintaining that space exclusively for business use.

I went through this exact situation last year and the IRS rules were driving me crazy! I found this tax AI tool that actually helped me figure out my home office deduction situation. It's called https://taxr.ai and it analyzed my specific partnership situation and confirmed I qualified. The cool thing was it showed me exactly how to document everything properly - like what percentage of my home qualified and which expenses could be allocated. The tool even helped identify additional deductions I would have missed, like partial internet and utilities that I could legitimately claim. It basically saved me from making mistakes that could have triggered an audit.

I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it was seriously helpful. My situation is almost identical - law firm partner working primarily from home. The tool identified exactly how to handle my K-1 income and separated the analysis between my guaranteed payments and profit distributions. What really impressed me was how it explained the difference between the simplified method and regular method calculations specifically for my situation. In my case, the regular method provided nearly $4,300 more in deductions than the simplified method would have! It also flagged some depreciation recapture issues I would have completely missed if I ever sell my home. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a partnership situation.

Slightly different issue but related - I spent WEEKS trying to get clarification from the IRS about partnership home office deductions last year. Could never get through on the phone. Finally found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me connected to an actual IRS agent within 30 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with confirmed that yes, law partners can take home office deductions when working remotely, even if the firm has a physical office elsewhere. The key was establishing that my home office was genuinely my principal place of business based on time spent there and the importance of the activities performed there. Having that official confirmation really gave me peace of mind.

I need to eat my words. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr out of desperation. Had been trying to reach the IRS for MONTHS about my partnership home office situation. The service actually worked - got a call back connecting me to an IRS agent in about an hour. The agent confirmed that as a law partner, I can claim home office when it's my principal place of business, which in my case it is since I'm there 90% of the time. They also clarified that the deduction goes on Schedule C, not Schedule E where most partnership expenses end up. This was a critical distinction I was confused about. Would've kept doing it wrong without getting that clarification. Sometimes you need to hear it directly from the IRS to be confident.

Don't forget that even if you qualify for home office deduction, you'll need to consider whether the simplified or regular method is better. With the simplified method, you can deduct $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet (max $1,500). With the regular method, you calculate the percentage of your home used for business and apply that to actual expenses. For high-income professionals like attorneys, the regular method often yields a much larger deduction since you can include mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, maintenance, etc. Just remember if you use the regular method, you'll need good documentation of all expenses and the exclusive business use of the space.

Has anyone considered that exclusive use is sometimes not easy to prove? I use a room that's technically a bedroom as my home office, but it has absolutely nothing in it except office furniture and equipment. Would an IRS agent look at the room layout and decide it's not exclusive use just because it could be a bedroom?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the importance of tracking your actual work hours between locations. Since you mentioned going to the firm office every 2-3 weeks, you should document the time spent at each location throughout the year. The IRS uses this as a key factor in determining your "principal place of business." Keep a simple log showing dates, hours worked from home vs. firm office, and types of activities performed at each location. This becomes crucial evidence if you're ever audited. Since you're working 40+ hours weekly from home and only visiting the firm office occasionally, your documentation should clearly support that your home office is indeed your principal place of business. Also, make sure you're not mixing any personal activities in that dedicated room - no personal computer use, no storing personal items, etc. The exclusive use test is where many people trip up during audits.