Can I write off a whole house generator on my taxes if we both work from home?

This is an interesting question! While I can't give you tax advice specifically for your situation, I can share some general information about how home office deductions work. For your own business, you might be able to deduct a portion of the generator as a business expense, but it would typically be limited to the percentage of your home that's used exclusively for business purposes. So if your home office takes up 10% of your home's square footage, you might be able to deduct 10% of the generator cost. For your husband's remote work situation, it's more complicated. Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the home office deduction for employees (W-2 workers) from 2018 through 2025. This means if he's a regular employee rather than self-employed, he likely can't take a deduction for home office expenses, including a proportional share of something like a generator. You might also consider whether the generator would qualify as a medical necessity (if anyone in your home requires electricity for medical equipment), which could potentially be deductible as a medical expense if you itemize and exceed the threshold.

After struggling with similar power outage issues last year while running my consulting business from home, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was seriously helpful for figuring out exactly what percentage of my generator I could legitimately write off. I had gotten conflicting advice from different tax professionals, but their document analysis tool clarified that I could deduct the business-use portion based on square footage, plus they helped me understand how to handle the depreciation correctly since it's considered a fixed asset. Their system analyzed my home office setup, previous tax returns, and business structure, then gave me specific guidance tailored to my situation. Saved me from making some mistakes that might have triggered an audit!

I wanted to follow up after trying taxr.ai that someone mentioned above. Wow, it actually worked really well for my situation! I uploaded my previous year's Schedule C and some info about my home office setup, and they gave me really specific guidance about my generator purchase. Turns out I CAN use Section 179 in my case because my workshop counts as 65% of my property for business use purposes. The tool even helped me understand how to document everything properly to support the deduction if I'm ever audited. They explained exactly how to calculate the business portion and what form to use. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers from the IRS about generator deductions, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was stuck in a similar situation last year with questions about my home office deduction and couldn't get through to the IRS for weeks. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! They have a demo video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was pretty skeptical at first, but it actually worked. The IRS agent I spoke with clarified that for my small business, I could deduct the business-use percentage of generator costs, and gave me specific guidance on how to document it properly to avoid audit flags. Saved me hours of frustrating hold music and probably a lot of money too!

I need to eat my words about Claimyr that I questioned above. After continuing to struggle getting through to the IRS about my home office deduction questions (including about a generator I installed), I broke down and tried it yesterday out of desperation. I'm completely shocked - it actually worked! I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes, and they answered all my questions about deducting my generator costs. The agent confirmed that for my Schedule C business, I could deduct the percentage based on my home office square footage and even walked me through how to handle the depreciation properly. After spending literally 8+ hours over multiple days trying to reach someone on my own, this was a complete game-changer. Just wanted to follow up since I was so publicly skeptical before.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you get a generator, make sure you're getting the right size for your needs. We bought one that was too small thinking we'd just power the essentials, but it couldn't handle my wife's business equipment plus our basic needs. Tax-wise, we ended up being able to deduct about 25% of our generator costs based on our home office square footage for my wife's business. Our accountant had us depreciate it over several years rather than taking it all at once. Make sure you keep all receipts and documentation showing it was necessary for business continuity!

Has anyone looked into the new energy credits instead of trying to deduct it as a business expense? I think some generators might qualify for the residential clean energy credit if they're solar-powered. Might be worth looking into.

Great question! I went through something similar last year when we had multiple extended outages that killed my ability to run client calls and access cloud-based systems for my consulting business. From what I learned through research and talking with my CPA, the key factors are: 1. **Business use percentage**: You can only deduct the portion that corresponds to your actual business use of the home. So if your home office is 15% of your total home square footage, you could potentially deduct 15% of the generator cost. 2. **Primary purpose**: The generator needs to be primarily for business continuity, not just general convenience. Document how power outages specifically impact your business operations. 3. **Employee vs. self-employed**: As others mentioned, your husband likely can't deduct his portion since he's a W-2 employee, but your business portion should be deductible. 4. **Depreciation vs. Section 179**: Depending on the cost and your business use percentage, you might be able to use Section 179 to deduct the business portion immediately rather than depreciating over time. I'd definitely recommend consulting with a tax professional who can look at your specific situation, especially since generator costs can be substantial. Also keep detailed records of outages and how they impact your business - this documentation could be valuable if you're ever questioned about the deduction. The solar generator route mentioned by others is also worth considering for the energy credit if it meets your power needs!