Can I claim mold remediation in kitchen as part of home office deduction?

So we discovered a leak in our kitchen about 3 weeks ago and it turned out to be much worse than we thought. There was black mold growing under the sink and behind the cabinets, and we ended up having to tear out all the cabinets, countertops, and part of the wall to deal with it. The issue is that my home office is actually connected to the kitchen (it's a small apartment and I use part of the dining area as my dedicated work space). I'm trying to figure out if I can claim any of the remediation costs as part of my home office deduction when I file taxes next year. The new countertops and cabinets cost around $8,700, plus another $3,200 for the mold removal specialist. I'm using the simplified method for home office deduction currently (the $5 per square foot thing), but I'm wondering if I should switch to the regular method to be able to deduct some of these unexpected costs. Does anyone know if these kinds of repairs qualify when they're in an adjacent space to the actual office? The mold definitely would have spread to my office area if we hadn't caught it.

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18 comments

Oliver Zimmermann

•8M

Kitchen renovations generally aren't deductible under home office rules, even when adjacent to your workspace. The IRS is pretty specific that home office deductions only apply to the portion of your home used "exclusively and regularly" for business. In your case, there are two separate issues: First, the kitchen itself isn't part of your home office, so repairs there wouldn't qualify. Second, even if mold had spread to your actual office space, remediation costs would need to be allocated - only the percentage used for business purposes would be deductible. If you're currently using the simplified method ($5 per square foot), switching to the regular method would let you deduct a portion of certain expenses, but you'd need to calculate what percentage of your home is used exclusively for business. Then you could only deduct that same percentage of the remediation costs, and only for the portions that directly affected your office space.

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Oliver Zimmermann

•8M

For air quality concerns, you might have a case for partial deduction if you can document that the mold was affecting your ability to work in your office space. Keep detailed records of any air quality tests or medical recommendations, as these could support your position if audited. Yes, you can switch between simplified and regular methods each year. So you could use the regular method this year to claim a portion of these costs, then switch back to simplified next year if that's more advantageous. Just remember that with the regular method, you'll need to track all expenses and depreciation, which is more complex.

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Natasha Volkova

•8M

I had a similar situation last year with water damage affecting my home office. After spending hours researching and getting nowhere, I used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze my receipts and situation. Their AI tool actually found a way for me to deduct a portion of my remediation costs by properly categorizing which expenses were business-related vs personal. They explained that while general kitchen renovations aren't deductible for home offices, remediation that directly impacts the usability of your workspace might qualify partially. In my case, they helped me document everything properly and gave me specific IRS guidelines to reference on my return. Saved me a ton of headache trying to figure it out myself.

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Natasha Volkova

•8M

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Javier Torres

•8M

Wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after trying it for my garage-to-office conversion questions. I'm actually blown away by how helpful it was! The system analyzed all my renovation receipts and clearly separated what was deductible from what wasn't. It explained that certain electrical work and ventilation improvements qualified because they were specifically for the office portion, while the new garage door didn't qualify. It even helped me calculate the exact percentage of shared expenses I could claim. Totally worth it for the peace of mind alone, and I found several legitimate deductions I would have missed.

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Malik Johnson

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If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your mold remediation deduction, you might want to call the IRS directly. I know that sounds like torture, but I used this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had a similar question about repairs in my home affecting my business space, and the agent gave me specific guidance that none of the online articles covered. Turns out there are some exceptions for health and safety remediation that might apply to your mold situation. The IRS agent explained exactly what documentation I needed to keep to support my deduction if I got audited.

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Malik Johnson

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Isabella Ferreira

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I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I was desperate to talk to someone about my amended return. No joke - I got a call back in 28 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! I've NEVER been able to get through to the IRS that quickly. The agent was super helpful and cleared up my confusion about the processing time for my amended return. Would have spent half my day on hold otherwise. For complicated deduction questions like your mold remediation, talking directly to an IRS rep would definitely give you the most reliable answer.

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Ravi Sharma

•8M

You might be overlooking something here - if the mold was causing a health hazard, it could potentially qualify as a casualty loss rather than a home office deduction. The rules changed after 2017, but certain federally declared disaster areas still qualify. Check if your area had any declared disasters around the time of the leak. Also, did your homeowner's insurance cover any of the remediation? If they denied the claim, that might strengthen your case for some type of deduction. Either way, keep EVERY receipt and document everything meticulously if you plan to claim anything related to this.

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Ravi Sharma

•8M

That's important information about the insurance - you can only deduct expenses you actually paid out of pocket, not what insurance reimbursed. So you'd need to subtract that $2,000 from any potential deduction. Since you're not in a declared disaster area, casualty loss probably won't work. Your best bet might be documenting how the mold affected your office space specifically and trying for a partial business deduction. But honestly, for this amount and situation, getting professional advice (either through an IRS agent or tax professional) would be worth the investment to avoid potential audit headaches.

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