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Comment by meddlepal | Hacker News Reader

Yea but you're saving money on commute costs (gas, insurance, maintenance) and time...

I'm not sure you're entitled to more money because you need a chair and a desk. Maybe could make an argument your internet connection should be paid for though.

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In my opinion, there are two kinds of people working from home: those who chose to work from home and made a series of decisions based on that goal and people who have been told by their employer that they need to work from home because of the quarantine.

The latter group was planning on working in an office and, perhaps, provisioned housing with that in mind. They may not have a guest room or space that can easily be used as an office. They may be sitting at a dining room table in an inflexible chair, bending their arms and wrist in uncomfortable ways and punishing their backs. They may have a laptop with a display that they planned to use only in meetings but now they are staring at it all day.

It's easy to make the case that people who made working from home a goal during their last search for employment don't need additional income during the quarantine; likely they made decisions about how they would pay for their homee office space and other expenses when they were looking for work and accepted a position.

I do think that employers should be footing some dollars to people working from home for the first time, for any real length of time, during quarantine. At the least they could provide equipment (docking stations, larger displays, keyboards, mice, proper chairs, etc.) to their employees. Whatever these employees are saving in terms of gas and commute time they are losing far more in the space from their home (no more dining room, etc.) and, if the quarantine continues for several months, the risk of RSI and back problems.

Yeah, I'll just go sit my chair and desk up in the middle of my kitchen/living room space. That shouldn't cause any problems with my 2 year old who loves to climb on things and pull cords.

Note: this isn't actually my situation, but I'd be surprised if it was uncommon given that many programmers work in large cities.

If it was a chair, a desk, electricity, air conditioning, etc. in an office building somewhere, it would be a business expense for my employer that they have to take into account for budgeting and taxes.

Why does this expense change categories to "eh, whatever" when it's coming out of my pocket instead of the business's?

Do you turn your AC off when you go to work in the morning?

I don't personally have AC in my home, but I definitely do turn the heat down/off when I'm away, yes. I'm not really sure what you're getting at.

But you can make the argument that your space is being used by your employer.

Many contractors claim tax deductions based on their rent or mortgage due to the fact that a percentage their home is used for business.

When my employer offered to let me work remote he also offered to let me expense part of a larger apartment precisely because the job requires a large dedicated work space. I made it work in a 1br but it was tight.

Not an accountant, but I think if you use a home office for your employer's convenience, and you use it exclusively for business, you can apply a home office deduction to your taxes. Assuming you itemize your deductions rather than take the standard one.

Again, not an accountant, not your accountant, etc.

"exclusively for business" is the hard part. Unless you've chosen your home to include that dedicated work room. it's going to be difficult to have a room that you're not using for non-business.

It's >50% over the course of a year, so you do have some leeway, but you'd have to avoid, say, gaming in there on weekends, so it's not trivial.

Tax code allows for a specific amount to be deducted ($250?).

Not everyone commutes by car. I used to bike to work which was nearly free.

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