Working from home

[tlj87]

Wow, a lot of great information, thank you all! It seems that most everyone enjoys it! So, now a new set of questions:

Do you have a dedicated phone line for work at home? Does your employer pay for or subsidize the cost of phone or internet? When you travel to and from the main office, do you pay for the travel expenses (fuel, tolls, etc.) or does your employer? Did you have to make any insurance or tax changes since you began to telecommute?

 

[fordmantpw]

Wow, a lot of great information, thank you all! It seems that most everyone enjoys it! So, now a new set of questions:

Do you have a dedicated phone line for work at home?

My work has a VOIP (voice over IP) phone system that allows me to use my (company furnished) laptop as my phone. They also provide me a cell phone.

Does your employer pay for or subsidize the cost of phone or internet?

See above for phone. They do not subsidize internet. I figure that I would have it regardless, so didn't even ask.

When you travel to and from the main office, do you pay for the travel expenses (fuel, tolls, etc.) or does your employer?

The employer covers it for me.

Did you have to make any insurance or tax changes since you began to telecommute?

Nope. It is possible to use part of your home expenses (utilities, insurance, etc.) as tax deductible on the portion of your home that you use for your office, but that throws a red flag to the IRS, so I don't bother.

 

[sseelhoff]

Wow, a lot of great information, thank you all! It seems that most everyone enjoys it! So, now a new set of questions:

Do you have a dedicated phone line for work at home? Does your employer pay for or subsidize the cost of phone or internet? When you travel to and from the main office, do you pay for the travel expenses (fuel, tolls, etc.) or does your employer? Did you have to make any insurance or tax changes since you began to telecommute?

I have an internet phone with a company number. Most people who call me have no idea I am at home. Similarly, because my laptop is logged into a company server, if someone was to do an IP check, they would think I am on the east coast.

My cell phone is my personal cell. I have the option of getting a company cell, but don't want two phones. My company pays a flat fee per month for internet service. It doesn't cover 100%, but darn close. Travel expenses are provided in the form of a company car. They pay for the car, gas, maintenance and insurance. I pay a small fee for per month for personal use. They pay tolls if the travel is business related.

Tax benefits for working at home depend on your situation. My employer provided a letter for tax purposes stating that I am working at home as a requirement of the job. That allows us to deduct a portion of our mortgage, HO insurance, taxes, and utilities based on the % of square footage my office occupies.

 

[Msamt]

Been doing it for 4 years. Do it if you can, the only success factor is your ability to be productive. Echo the couple of times a month in the office, but i have offices from birmingham to beijing, so it gets interesting!

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Wow, a lot of great information, thank you all! It seems that most everyone enjoys it! So, now a new set of questions:

Do you have a dedicated phone line for work at home? Does your employer pay for or subsidize the cost of phone or internet? When you travel to and from the main office, do you pay for the travel expenses (fuel, tolls, etc.) or does your employer? Did you have to make any insurance or tax changes since you began to telecommute?

Company pays for the internet and cell phone, also have VOIP.

I have a company car, to and from the office are considered business miles, so they pay.

As others have said not worth the tax man looking at your return for a few $$$ back.

Regarding insurance coverage the computer, LCD panels, printer are all company owned as well as the desk, chair, file cabinets. They pay for printer ink, paper paper clips, or anything I need from an office supply point of view.

My company is saving a ton of $$$ by paying for all of the above considering what they pay per sq. ft. for office space when I am never in the office. I am considered "field" staff as well as the 400 other field staff in my division. For the last 3 years ALL field staff do not have office space. As a result they have downsized the amount of sq. ft. for offices throughout the USA. In my line of work, insurance loss prevention, just about everyone I know at other insurance companies are doing the same thing, move the field staff out of the office to reduce overhead $$$.

 

[bucktaker]

I have been work from home since 1993 as a traveling engineer now I do local field service and
I deduct for the square foot %, mort, insurance, utilities no issue as I truly use that space as my work office... M y company does a flat rate for internet/office phone. doesnt cover the entire thing But I can claim it as un rembursed business expense.

It does get lonely feeling not part of the company but got to love working in my underwear

 

[bobm6996]

One more benefit I forgot mention in my earlier post. I purchased a new 2009 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Crew Cab about 4 months before I started working from home. I drove 75 miles a day round trip back and forth to work. I still have that truck (paid off now), it has only 28,000 miles on it. I am saving probably 300-400 dollars a month in fuel costs, I only have to change the oil twice a year (driving less than 5,000 miles a year on avg.) and maintenance costs are very low.

 

[fordmantpw]

One more benefit I forgot mention in my earlier post. I purchased a new 2009 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Crew Cab about 4 months before I started working from home. I drove 75 miles a day round trip back and forth to work. I still have that truck (paid off now), it has only 28,000 miles on it. I am saving probably 300-400 dollars a month in fuel costs, I only have to change the oil twice a year (driving less than 5,000 miles a year on avg.) and maintenance costs are very low.

Ahhh, yes, very good point! I still drive to take the kids to school and pick them up, but I average about 500-600 miles / month. Almost no work miles is great!

 

[tlj87]

We are very fortunate in regard to commuting at our current place in the city. My wife and I work on the same street which is less than 1.5 miles from where we rent. We drive or walk together to work. If we move to the property, my wife's commute to the new office would be about 8-10 miles. Depending on how often I would go into my physical office, We could end up spending the about he same as we do now on gas. Currently, we travel to our property about 45 times a year, about 90 miles each way. If I went it to the physical office about once per week, mileage/gas cost would be actually be higher due to my wife's longer commute.

I guess it boils down to being where we want and not working on the property non stop every weekend (instead we can work on it non stop every weekday evening and weekend ).

 

[tlj87]

I thought I would provide an update. We are moving to our property! My wife starts her job (same job, new office) on Nov. 3. I am currently making arrangements and getting final approvals to work at home from my employer. It looks like I will be traveling to the office once per week at my expense. We have been making some provisions for living at the property throughout the fall, but now its crunch time. Need to finish cutting/splitting firewood (have about 4 cords currently), plumb/wire for electric washer/dryer, build closet/clothes storage, install some sort of water filtration and the list goes on as I think about it. It doesn't all need to happen at once, but I'm the type that thinks it does.