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When A House Is Not Entirely A Home: Deductions Under Internal Revenue Code § 280a For Home Offices, Vacation Homes, Etc., Michael Lang

Michael B. Lang

The fuzzy dichotomy between business or profit-motivated expenses and personal expenses has long plagued both taxpayers and the government, creating continuing confusion as to the deductibility for federal income tax purposes of expenses of maintaining a residence used for both personal and business or profit-oriented purposes. Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) 280A, which sets forth an exclusive series of circumstances in which such deductions are permissible, represents the latest phase in the ongoing battle and the first attempt to deal with the issues by statute. Enacted in 1976 and effective for taxable years beginning after 1975, 280 A seems to have …