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Track Home Office and Vehicle Deductions

2 min read

Table of Contents

📋 Tax Planning Module

Home Office Deduction calculator #

Open the Home Office Deduction calculator from the Tax Planning section. A SmartScope badge sits in the toolbar. A segmented picker at the top lets you switch between the two IRS-approved calculation methods: Simplified and Actual.

Simplified Method #

Enter your Office Square Footage. The IRS Simplified Method rate is shown: “$5.00 / sq ft (max 300 sq ft).” Your deduction calculates instantly and appears in indigo below. If your office is larger than 300 sq ft, a note appears: “Capped at 300 sq ft ($1,500 max) under the simplified method.” The footer explains: “The IRS simplified method allows $5 per square foot of dedicated office space, up to 300 sq ft.”

Actual Method #

Switch to Actual to calculate based on real home expenses. Enter your office square footage and total home square footage — a live Business Use % calculation appears in indigo showing what percentage of your home the office represents.

Then enter your annual home expenses in the Annual Home Expenses section: Rent or Mortgage Interest, Property Tax, Utilities, Insurance, Repairs & Maintenance, and Depreciation (optional). The footer reminds you: “Enter your total annual amounts. Only the business-use percentage is deductible.” Your deduction calculates automatically.

Choose the better method #

Once your office square footage is entered, a Comparison section appears showing both methods side by side — Simplified and Actual amounts, with a Better badge on whichever gives a larger deduction. A green note confirms how much more the better method saves you.

Tap Use Simplified ($X) or Use Actual ($X) to apply your chosen amount. A confirmation appears: “Deduction saved — your Tax Estimator will include this.” The deduction is automatically pulled into your quarterly tax estimate.

Vehicle deductions #

Business vehicle deductions are tracked through your mileage log. Every trip you log captures the date, miles, purpose, start and end address, and the IRS rate in effect at the time — the deduction per trip is locked in as you log. See Track Business Mileage Without Keeping a Paper Log for the full mileage tracking guide.

Your year-to-date mileage deduction feeds into your Tax Planning totals automatically — no manual entry. The Quarterly Tax Estimator pulls the mileage deduction figure directly from your logged trips.

Missed Deductions checklist #

Open Missed Deductions from the Tax Planning section. The summary at the top shows how many of 16 common deduction categories you’re currently tracking, with a circular progress ring. An orange warning shows how many are potentially missed.

Two sections follow:

  • Potentially Missed (orange) — categories where no expenses or mileage have been logged this year. Each row shows the category name and a plain-language prompt about whether it might apply to your business. Tap any row to open an expense entry form pre-filled to that category
  • Deductions You’re Tracking (green) — categories where expenses are already logged. Each row shows the category, how many expenses you’ve logged, and the year-to-date total

The 16 categories checked are: Vehicle / Mileage, Home Office, Phone & Internet, Tools & Equipment, Training & Education, Professional Services, Business Insurance, Licenses & Taxes, Marketing & Advertising, Software & Subscriptions, Uniforms & Work Clothing, Business Meals, Shipping & Delivery, Bank Fees, Repairs & Maintenance, and Rent & Facilities.

Work through this checklist before the end of the tax year. Any category still showing as missed is worth a few minutes to think through — missed deductions are money left on the table.

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