can I deduct working from home next year due to pandemic?

You need to have separate office space in the house that is used only for work - you can’t do anything else in that space. The deductions can be complex. But here is an article that discusses in detail what you are asking about: money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/taxes/articles/guide-to-home-office-tax-deduction

After reading this IRS bulletin I’d say no.

www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/home-office-deduction

It’s not your principal place of business.

I asked my dh about this. It is a lot of paperwork and keeping track of everything. Then, apparently when you put your house up for sale there is another mess that has to be taken care of. He explained it, I really tuned out because he went on and on and on about all that has to be done.

Obviously I have no idea how it all works in the US. But yes, in Australia you can claim a deduction for expenses incurred when working from home, such as electricity, gas, internet, phone, depreciation of office furniture, purchase of office equipment eg. printer, ink, paper etc. The quick method allows you to claim 52 cents per hour for every hour worked from home. Or you can do the "actual cost" method which involves a lot more work and record keeping. I read somewhere that from March onwards (during COVID) you can claim 80 cents per hour instead of only 52 cents.



It must be very different there, because everyone claims the working from home deductions here. I don't know a single person who doesn't claim it. I know people who have been doing it since the 90s.

Is is different here. It was a pain before, and then taxes were redone a few years ago and it became almost impossible to claim deductions for working at home. MY SIL has worked from home for almost 10 years. When she renegotiated her contract last year, she added in some reimbursement of expenses on her contract now that she can’t deduct them on her taxes. 

I have a 1099 job that is always from home. This year the tax pro said I should claim something for home office. I said that I hadn't bought anything specifically for the job, that I did it on the computer we used for other purposes, in a room used for other purposes. He said that having what is considered a home business and claiming nothing would work as a red flag, and asked if there was absolutely anything I bought for working. The only thing directly related to the job was the expense of getting the taxes done. I had always done our own before starting that job. So he ended up deducting about 1/3 of the price of the tax work, because we do have other sources of income.