Balancing costs - Business First of Columbus:

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One of those avenues is the live/workm space option, a trend that is growing in San Some of those business owners say that living and working in the same dwelling does save expensexs andcommuting costs. Several projects have made their way to the Alamoo City to meet the including the Steel Houswe Lofts in the historic PedemnIron & Steel Building downtown, and live/workm space at Pearl Brewery.
Will an associate with San Antonio-based , says the live/work space seemsd to mesh better in the downtownj areas of larger citiee and areparticularly well-suited to certain industries, includinh certified public accountants, attorneys, architects and Chip Henderson, a local says the live/work space concept was the perfecf option for he and his wife since they have only one Late last year, Henderson moved his home and his Contects Consultants and Architects, into a unit at the newlhy completed Pearl Brewery located at 306 E. Grayson. “I knew I wantecd to be in this space threseyears ago,” Henderson says. “The contemporary, mixed-user look was appealing.
I don’t have to leav every morning to goto work.” Johnny Hernandez, owned of True Flavors, recently moved into the Steeo House Lofts. He says the move has given him the convenience of living and working in downtown San for areasonable cost. True Flavors is a San Antonio-based caterintg company owned by Hernandez and his sisteeLeticia Hernandez. “A lot of my busineszs happens downtown and a lot of my social circlesa are downtown so Ilove it,” he says. Hernandes says he actually has two unitds at SteelHouse Lofts, located at 1401 South Floresa St., one for his business office and the other as his personal residence.
Henderson, meanwhile says combining his work and home has reduceds his expenses in several areas including rentand transportation. But while the live/work space optiob does offer many financial advantagezto small-business owners, it can also create a few challenge s to those owners lookingg for certain tax breaks, such as the home-office local tax experts say. Live/work spaces can make senswe andsave money, but meeting the requirements to writw some of those expenses off can be a bit says Jim McCutcheon, senior counsel with LLP.
Accordinb to the (IRS), taxpayers who use a portion of their home for business purposes may be able to take a home office deduction if they meet certain Expenses that may be deducted include the business portion of realestate taxes, mortgagde interest, rent, utilities, insurance, painting, repairs and “There are lots of people who would qualifyh (for the deduction), but don’t out of fear (of being Then, there are those that don’t qualifyg and take the deduction anyway,” McCutcheon “It is a crazy deal.
” In trying to qualify for the some of the problems occur because the ownet may have a home officde that they work out of part time, yet have an offic elsewhere. Or, they try to claim a home offic deduction for an area where both work duties and personal timeare spent. For McCutcheon says, a dining room table that is used for familyg meals and as a desk would likely be questioned byIRS officials. McCutcheonj explains that some of thenew live/wor spaces might be questioned by the IRS in regards to the home-office deduction since the spaces are often loftw and there are no wallxs to distinguish the two areas.
He adds that with only one it can be difficult to prove the spacee is strictlyfor business. “Igt is tough to show the spacew is used exclusively for busines s when there is no wallor door,” he says. “Otherwise, what is personakl and what is business tendsto