Home Improvement Contractor - Licensed Contractors

What can I write off on taxes being an Independent contractor?

I am an Independent contractor and I work from home. I have a home office set up in which I work from. I use the computer I bought to work from, my internet and phone all for work. I've been told I can write off all three of those, but what else?

Public Comments

1. If you only have one phone line, it's not deductible. It's considered a personal expense. If you use the computer for business (personal use must be kept track of and must be less than 50%), you may be able to depreciate it. See IRS publication 587 for the rules on deducting use of your home.
2. If you use the space regularly and exclusively for business, you might be able to take a home office deduction and deduct a portion of your rent or take depreciation on a portion of your home's value, and also a part of the utility costs. But exclusively means that you don't also do personal email or surf the net from that same computer in that space, or write out checks for your personal bills at that desk. And unless it's a second phone line installed for business, you can't deduct the phone bill, although you can deduct any business calls billed separately.