Can I deduct home office furniture expenses paid through Venmo when someone else made the initial purchase?
Hey tax folks, I'm currently trying to figure out a home office deduction situation in TurboTax and want to make sure I'm not messing anything up. My husband moved to our new place about 10 days before I could join him (job transition timing), and while he was setting up the apartment, he purchased all our furniture including my dedicated home office setup. He used his credit card for everything from Target and IKEA, but I immediately reimbursed him for all the office items through Venmo with notes specifically mentioning "office desk," "office chair," etc. The receipts are all in his name, but I paid 100% of the costs for everything related to my home office space via those Venmo transfers. My question is: Can I still claim these home office furniture expenses on my taxes even though the original purchase receipts aren't in my name? Would the Venmo transactions showing my payments to him work as sufficient proof for tax purposes? I'm self-employed and definitely use this space exclusively for work, just concerned about the documentation side of things. Thanks for any advice you can offer!
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Evelyn Kim
This is a really common situation! What matters for tax purposes is who actually paid for the items, not whose name is on the receipt. Since you reimbursed your husband through Venmo for the exact amounts of the office furniture, you're considered the person who paid for those items. The IRS is concerned with economic reality rather than just whose name appears on a receipt. Make sure you keep both the original purchase receipts and your Venmo payment records that show the reimbursements. Having notes in the Venmo transactions specifically identifying what each payment was for is extremely helpful. If you're audited, you'd need to show: 1) the original receipts showing what was purchased, 2) your Venmo transactions proving you paid for the items, and 3) documentation that you use the space exclusively for business.
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Diego Fisher
•Thanks for the info! What about if my spouse and I file jointly? Does it even matter who paid in that case since our finances are combined for tax purposes?
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Evelyn Kim
•If you file jointly with your spouse, then it matters even less whose name is on the receipt since you're treated as a single taxpayer unit. The IRS doesn't differentiate between spouses for most expenses when you file jointly. For self-employment expenses specifically, they would still need to be connected to the spouse who is actually self-employed and using the home office, but the documentation requirements about whose name is on the receipt are less stringent when you file jointly.
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Henrietta Beasley
I had this EXACT situation last year when my roommate bought furniture for our place and I Venmo'd her for my office stuff (I'm a freelancer). I started using https://taxr.ai to organize all my business expenses including the Venmo payments. It actually helps analyze your receipts and payment records to make sure they qualify for deductions. They spotted a few things I was missing documentation for and helped me fix it before filing.
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Lincoln Ramiro
•How does that service actually work with Venmo payments? Can you just upload screenshots of the transactions or do you need to connect accounts?
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Faith Kingston
•I'm kinda skeptical about using third-party services for tax stuff. Don't they just tell you the same things TurboTax would? How'd you know it was worth the cost?
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Henrietta Beasley
•You can upload screenshots of Venmo transactions, no need to connect accounts. It analyzes the descriptions, dates and amounts to match them with your business categories. Really simple to use. I was skeptical at first too! But TurboTax wasn't giving me specific guidance on documentation requirements for Venmo payments. This service actually reviews your specific situation and documents, not just generic advice. I ended up claiming about $1,800 more in legitimate deductions I would have missed.
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Faith Kingston
Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment above. It actually was super helpful! I uploaded my Venmo payments for some equipment purchases that weren't in my name (my dad bought them and I paid him back), and it gave me specific documentation guidance. The receipt analyzer even flagged which items needed additional proof of business use. Ended up organizing everything perfectly for my Schedule C. Way more helpful than I expected!
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Emma Johnson
Speaking of documentation issues - I had a similar situation and got flagged for an audit. Spent WEEKS trying to get someone at the IRS on the phone to explain exactly what I needed to provide. Finally used https://claimyr.com and they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was super helpful about what documentation I needed for third-party payments (like Venmo) for business expenses. Saved me so much stress!
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Liam Brown
•Wait how does this actually work? Are they just sitting on hold for you or something? Seems like there would be a catch...
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Olivia Garcia
•This sounds like a scam honestly. The IRS is IMPOSSIBLE to reach by phone. No way they're getting people through in 20 minutes when I've tried calling for days.
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Emma Johnson
•They basically use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual agent picks up, you get a call back to connect with them. I was super skeptical too! I tried calling the IRS myself for 3 days straight with no luck. With Claimyr, I got connected in 18 minutes. The IRS agent confirmed exactly what documentation I needed for my home office deductions where someone else made the initial purchase. Not a scam - literally just saves you from the hold time.
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Olivia Garcia
I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I was getting desperate about some documentation questions for my home office deduction. Got connected to an IRS rep in about 15 minutes! The agent confirmed that Venmo records + original receipts are totally fine even when someone else's name is on the receipt. They explained exactly what I needed to document for the space and furniture. Saved me HOURS of hold time and stress.
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Noah Lee
Make sure you're also keeping track of what percentage of your home the office takes up! The square footage ratio is super important for calculating the deduction correctly. And don't forget you can only deduct furniture as a direct expense if you're using the actual expense method, not the simplified $5/sqft method.
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Margot Quinn
•Thanks for mentioning this! I'm using the regular method since my actual expenses are higher than what I'd get with the simplified option. My office is about 120 sq ft in a 950 sq ft apartment, so I'm tracking that percentage for shared expenses like utilities too. Do I need to take photos of the space to document that it's exclusively used for work?
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Noah Lee
•Yes, taking dated photos of your office space is actually a great idea. Document that it's clearly set up as a workspace with no personal/non-business items visible. Having a floor plan showing measurements is also helpful documentation. With your measurements, you're looking at about 12.6% of your home being used for business, which seems reasonable and less likely to trigger extra scrutiny than higher percentages.
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Ava Hernandez
Lol at everyone overthinking this. Just deduct it. As long as you actually paid for it and use it for work, the IRS isn't going to care about the name on a furniture receipt. They barely have staff to process returns let alone investigate every home office desk purchase.
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Isabella Martin
•Bad advice. Yes the audit risk might be low but it's still important to have proper documentation. A friend of mine got audited specifically on home office deductions and they absolutely asked for receipts and proof of payment.
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