II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1754 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 6, 2009 Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Bayh) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a standard home office deduction in the case of certain uses of the office.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Home Office Deduction Simplification Act of 2009.

2.

Standard home office deduction

(a)

In General

Subsection (c) of section 280A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disallowance of certain expenses in connection with business use of home, rental of vacation homes, etc.) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (7)

Standard home office deduction

(A)

In general

In the case of an individual who is allowed a deduction for the use of a home office because of a use described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (4) of this subsection, notwithstanding the limitations of paragraph (5), if such individual elects the application of this paragraph for the taxable year, such individual shall be allowed a deduction equal to the standard home office deduction for the taxable year in lieu of the deductions otherwise allowable under this chapter for such taxable year by reason of being attributed to such use. (B)

Standard home office deduction

For purposes of this paragraph, the standard home office deduction is the lesser of— (i)$1,500, or (ii)the gross income derived from the individual’s trade or business for which such use occurs. (C)

Inflation adjustment

In the case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2009, the dollar amount in subparagraph (B)(i) shall be increased by an amount equal to— (i)such dollar amount, multiplied by (ii)the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 2008 for 1992 in subparagraph (B) thereof. Any increase determined under the preceding sentence shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.. (b)

Effective Date

The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.