Key Takeaways
- Remote working employees can receive tax-free reimbursements for maintaining the home office spaces.
- Employers providing proper work-from-home accountable plans to their employees can also improve employee retention and benefit from these tax savings.
- Complete a brief survey today and MainStreet will help you find ways to save money!
Work from Home Savings Overview
If you have employees working from home, you may want to consider setting up a work-from-home accountable plan for tax saving opportunities.
Employees working from home spend recurring expenses to maintain their home office spaces. By taking advantage of accountable plans, you can essentially pay these work-from-home expenses as tax-free reimbursements.
An accountable plan is a reimbursement program implemented by the employer to reimburse employees for business expenses they incur as part of the job, including home office expenses. The plan outlines how a company will reimburse expenses, and which expenses qualify for reimbursement. Under an accountable plan, reimbursements are not treated as employee compensation – that means that your employees will pay no taxes on those reimbursements, and you won’t pay any employment taxes on them. Also, you, as an employer, can still deduct those reimbursements as business expenses to reduce your business’s taxable income.
How it Works
In order to qualify for reimbursement, the home office space must meet all of the following conditions:
- The employee is required to work from home per an agreement with the employer, or because no other office is available to such employee.
- The employee uses the home office space on a regular basis.
- The home office space is used exclusively for work purposes.
- If the home office space is in a multi-purpose room but the office space itself is used only for your work, then that portion of the room would qualify.
If the home office meets conditions above, then the employee qualifies for tax-free home office reimbursements! Examples of qualifying expenses include:
- For homeowners
- Mortgage interest
- Real estate taxes
- Home value depreciation
- Permanent upgrades to your home office space
- Homeowners’ insurance
- Maintenance, security, housekeeping, and HOA fees
- Utilities
- For renters
- Rent
- Renters’ insurance
- Security and housekeeping
- Utilities
Work with MainStreet
MainStreet’s AI agent will negotiate with you and your employees to set up, manage, and monitor work-from-home accountable plans that work for everyone. Our work-from home accountable plans are always cost-neutral or better – you can offer this great employee benefit at no additional cost!
When implementing a work-from-home accountable plan with MainStreet, you can count on:
- It will be easy and hassle-free for everyone.
As your employees’ needs evolve, let MainStreet handle any necessary changes to your savings programs. You’ll always have visibility, but won’t have to worry about managing your employees’ savings. - You and your employees will receive the maximum possible benefits.
MainStreet’s AI agent will ensure that the business and all its employees walk away with the most possible cash in your pockets. - Your savings are IRS-approved.
We work within various sections of the tax code to offer you the greatest tax savings available. We provide all necessary documentation and substantiation to protect you in the unlikely event of an IRS audit.
You only ever pay when you save, so your cash flow will only improve while offering your employees these meaningful benefits. To get started or learn more, please fill out this brief survey.
