Home Office Deduction After a Mid-Year Move: Simplified Method vs. Form 8829 for Two Homes (2026)

Published: October 19, 2026 · Reading time: 11 min

TL;DR: If you moved during 2026 and ran your freelance business from a dedicated space in both homes, the IRS lets you use the simplified method for only one of them. The other home must go on its own Form 8829 with actual expenses. The simplified method prorates your square footage by month ($5 x average monthly square feet, 300 max), and a month counts only if you used the space at least 15 days in it. In this guide's recomputed example, simplified on the old apartment plus Form 8829 on the new one gives $3,027.29, the reverse gives $2,720.22, and actual expenses in both give $4,889.18. You cannot deduct expenses for any part of the year you did not use a home for business.

Moving is a mess for your books. Boxes, two leases that overlap, a desk that lives in a hallway for three days. And somewhere in the middle of it, your home office deduction quietly splits into two separate calculations.

Most home office articles assume you lived in one place all year. This one is about the year you did not. It covers which method each home can use, how the 15-day month rule and the average square footage work, and how to compare the combinations. Every IRS rule below was read from the IRS's own publication or instructions, and every number in the worked example was recomputed.

A note on sources: the latest editions of Publication 587 and the Form 8829 and Schedule C instructions are the 2025 versions. The mechanics have been stable since Revenue Procedure 2013-13, but check the 2026 editions when they publish.

The Rule That Surprises People: One Home Gets the Simplified Method

Publication 587 handles a move in a single sentence:

"If you used more than one home in your business during the year (for example, you moved during the year), you can elect to use the simplified method for only one of the homes. You must figure the deduction for any other home using actual expenses."

The Schedule C instructions say the same thing from the filing side: you may elect the simplified method for only one home, and you file a Form 8829 for any additional home. Form 8829's instructions add that you use a separate Form 8829 for each home you used for the business during the year.

So a move year gives you exactly three legal setups:

1. Simplified method on the old home, Form 8829 on the new home
2. Form 8829 on the old home, simplified method on the new home
3. Form 8829 (actual expenses) on both homes

What you cannot do is use the simplified method on both. If you want the general background on the two methods first, start with simplified vs. actual and the Form 8829 walkthrough.

The election is yours, home by home, every year

Publication 587 says you choose whether to use the simplified method each tax year, you make the election by using it on a timely filed original return, and an election for a year, once made, is irrevocable. Switching between simplified and actual from one year to the next is not a change in accounting method and needs no IRS consent. That is useful in a move year, because the best choice for a part-year home often differs from the best choice for the same home in a full year.

You Can Only Deduct the Months You Actually Used the Space

Both methods share a basic limit. Publication 587 says:

"You cannot deduct expenses for the business use of your home incurred during any part of the year you did not use your home for business purposes."

Its example is a taxpayer who starts using part of a home for business on July 1: only the expenses for the last half of the year count. The Form 8829 instructions repeat it: if you did not operate the business in the home for the entire year, you can deduct only the expenses paid or incurred for the portion of the year you used the home for business.

For a move, that means:

• Rent or utilities for the old place after you moved out are not part of the old home's deduction.
• Rent for the new place before you moved in and set up the office is not part of the new home's deduction.
• The overlap weeks, when you were paying for both and working from one, belong to whichever home you actually worked in.

None of this changes the qualifying tests. The space must still be used regularly and exclusively for the business, and generally be your principal place of business or meet one of the other listed tests. The Schedule C instructions are blunt that the simplified method is not an alternative to the exclusivity and other tests. A kitchen table that doubled as your desk in the new apartment while the office was being set up did not qualify during that stretch.

How the Simplified Method Works When You Used the Home for Part of the Year

The full-year formula is simple: allowable area (the smaller of your office size or 300 square feet) times $5. For a part-year home, Publication 587 says the deduction is limited to the average monthly allowable square footage:

1. Figure the allowable square feet for each of the 12 months.
2. Cap each month at 300 square feet.
3. Use zero for any month in which the qualified business use was less than 15 days. Publication 587's wording: "if your qualified business use was less than 15 days in a month, you must use -0- for that month."
4. Add the twelve months and divide by 12.
5. Multiply by $5.

The IRS puts a warning right under its own moving example: "If you moved during the year, your average allowable square footage will generally be less than 300."

The IRS's own moving example

Publication 587 describes Guadalupe, who owns a home and files on a calendar year. From January 1 through July 16 she used 300 square feet of the first home for a qualified business use. On July 17 she moved to a new home and immediately began using 200 square feet for the same business. She elected the simplified method for the first home and used Form 8829 for the second. The IRS computes her average allowable square footage as (300 for each of January through July) divided by 12, which is 175 square feet, so her simplified deduction for the first home is 175 x $5 = $875 before the gross income limitation.

Note what happened to the second home: the simplified method was not used for it, so the 200 square feet and the five-plus months there were handled with actual expenses on Form 8829.

The gross income limitation follows the home

The simplified deduction cannot exceed the gross income from the qualified business use of the home, reduced by business deductions that are unrelated to the use of the home. Two details matter in a move year:

• The Schedule C instructions say that if you had more than one home for the business, you include only the income earned and the deductions attributable to that income during the period you owned the home for which you elected the simplified method. Form 8829's line 8 instruction says the same for each Form 8829 you file.
• If the limit cuts your deduction, you cannot carry the difference to another year.

In the example below the limit does not bind, but in a slow quarter around a move it can.

The 15-Day Cliff: Why the Move Date Matters

The 15-day test applies to the simplified method only. It creates a cliff you can see coming:

Whether a half-month at your old place or new place falls on the right side of 15 days is the kind of detail that moves a simplified deduction by a month's worth of square footage. It does not affect Form 8829 at all, which simply follows your actual costs for the days you used the home.

The practical lesson: if you are choosing between homes and one of them has a stub month right at the border, the actual-expense method on that home avoids the cliff.

Worked Example: Priya's Two Apartments in 2026

Priya is a freelance UX writer who rents. Her business income comes entirely from client work done at her desk. All figures are illustrative.

Facts:

• Old apartment (Home A): 1,000 square feet, with a 180 square foot dedicated office. Used for the business January 1 through July 17, 2026 (17 days of July). Monthly costs: rent $1,800, utilities $200, renters insurance $25.
• New apartment (Home B): 800 square feet, with a 160 square foot dedicated office. Moved in July 18 and set up the office that day (14 days of July). Monthly costs: rent $2,100, utilities $170, renters insurance $25.
• Gross income from the business during the Home A period is $41,000, less $6,200 of expenses unrelated to the home, so the gross income limit for Home A is $34,800. It does not bind in any option below, and the income earned in the Home B period is also far above Home B's deduction.
• Priya takes no deduction for the days she did not use a home for business.

Step 1: Simplified method amounts (if elected for that home)

Step 2: Actual expenses (Form 8829) for each home

Rent, utilities and renters insurance are all indirect expenses, deductible at the business percentage. As a renter Priya has no depreciation and no mortgage interest to figure, which keeps this example clean. Owners have more to consider; see below.

Step 3: The three legal combinations

What the numbers say

• Option 3 wins, by $1,861.89 over option 1, because Priya's costs are high relative to the $5 per square foot the simplified method pays, and the simplified method is diluted by the part-year months: 7 months at Home A and only 5 at Home B.
• Between the two mixed setups, option 1 beats option 2 by $307.07. Option 2 spends the simplified election on the new apartment, which has the shorter stretch of use, then puts the old apartment's lower actual number on a full Form 8829.
• On self-employment tax alone, the extra $1,861.89 is worth about $263.08 (92.35% x 15.3% = 14.13% of the difference, assuming Priya is under the Social Security wage base). It also reduces income tax at her household's marginal rate, which I have not guessed at because it depends on everything else on the return. See Schedule SE for how the self-employment tax piece works.

The surprise is not the winner. It is that "simplified, because it is easier" quietly cost Priya nearly $1,900 of deductions across a move year. Records are the price of option 3: two leases, two sets of utility bills, floor plans and measurements for both homes.

If You Own: What Else Changes

Priya rented, so her actual expenses were clean. If you own one or both homes, the same framework applies with extra moving parts:

• Depreciation. Actual expenses include depreciation on the business part of an owned home. If you elect the simplified method for a home, depreciation on its business part is deemed to be zero for that year. For a newly acquired home you use actual expenses on, Publication 587 gives a first-year percentage table for 39-year nonresidential real property: you multiply the depreciable basis of the business part by the percentage for the month you first used the home for business. The table runs from 2.461% for January down to 0.107% for December, and 1.177% for July. As an illustration, a business part with a depreciable basis of $40,000 first used in July yields 40,000 x 1.177% = $470.80 for the first year.
• Mortgage interest and property tax. Under the simplified method these are treated as personal expenses, deductible only if you itemize and are otherwise allowed. Under actual expenses the business share goes on Form 8829. See standard vs. itemized deductions for how the personal side works.
• Selling the old home. Depreciation you took under actual expenses is the piece that can come back when you sell. Selling a home with a home office covers it, and it is worth reading before you decide how to treat the home you just left.
• Prior-year carryovers. The IRS says actual-expense carryovers from Form 8829 cannot be deducted in a year you use the simplified method for the home, and they continue to carry over to the next year you use actual expenses. Publication 587 says the carryover is subject to the deduction limit for that later year whether or not you live in the same home then, so it follows you rather than the address. Which of two Forms 8829 should carry it is not spelled out in the guidance I read, so ask your preparer. Carryover rules are covered separately.

Mileage After the Move

Your new home office may change which drives count as business trips. The commuting rules depend on whether your home qualifies as your principal place of business, and a new office that does not yet meet the tests does not carry the old office's treatment. If you log miles, keep the dates clear so each trip is tied to the home that was your qualifying base at the time. See the home-office mileage rule.

Records to Keep in a Move Year

• Move-in and move-out dates for each home, and the date the office was set up and ready in the new one
• Floor plan or measurements of the whole home and the office, for both homes
• Dated photos of the office in each home
• Both leases, or closing statements, plus a payment record for each month
• Utility and insurance bills with service dates, so the old and new homes are cleanly separated
• A one-page worksheet showing the three combinations, so your preparer can see which one you chose and why

What to keep for the home office deduction has a longer checklist. If you are comparing a home office to renting a desk, see home office vs. coworking space.

Common Mistakes in a Move Year

• Electing the simplified method on both homes. The IRS allows it on only one.
• Deducting the whole year's rent at the old address. Only the months or days you used it for business count.
• Counting a stub month that has fewer than 15 days in the simplified calculation.
• Assuming 300 square feet. The cap is 300, but part-year use pulls the average well below it.
• Forgetting the gross income limit and the fact that a disallowed simplified amount cannot be carried forward.
• Treating the temporary setup as a qualifying office. Exclusive, regular use still has to be true in each home.
• Not keeping the second home's records because the first home's were easy.

How CentSense Helps

A move year means two sets of receipts that need to stay separate. CentSense is built for the record-keeping side:

• Scan each rent receipt, utility bill and office purchase with AI as it arrives. The free tier includes 10 AI receipt scans a month.
• Log business miles with dates, so trips line up with whichever home was your base.
• Export your categorized expenses as a CPA-ready CSV so your preparer can run the three combinations.

CentSense does not decide whether a space qualifies, which method to elect, or how to split a move month. Those are judgment calls for you and your CPA or EA. See how to organize receipts for taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I claim a home office deduction for both homes if I moved during the year?

Yes, if you meet the use tests in each home for the part of the year you worked there. The home office space must be used regularly and exclusively for your business and generally be your principal place of business (or meet another qualifying test). You cannot deduct expenses for any part of the year you did not use a home for business. The IRS lets you elect the simplified method for only one of the homes, and you must figure the deduction for the other home using actual expenses on its own Form 8829. Because the rules depend on your facts, ask a CPA or EA to confirm that the space qualified in each home.

Can I use the simplified method for both homes in the year I move?

No. Publication 587 says that if you used more than one home in your business during the year (for example, you moved during the year), you can elect the simplified method for only one of the homes, and you must figure the deduction for any other home using actual expenses. Revenue Procedure 2013-13 says the same thing. The election is made home by home on a timely filed original return and is irrevocable for that year. Ask a CPA or EA which home should get the simplified method.

How is the simplified home office deduction calculated if I only used the home for part of the year?

You figure the average monthly allowable square footage: add the allowable square feet for each month (no more than 300 in any month, and zero for a month in which you used the space for qualified business use fewer than 15 days), divide the total by 12, and multiply the result by $5. For example, 180 square feet used for seven months gives 180 x 7 / 12 = 105 square feet on average, or $525. The deduction is also limited by the gross income limitation, using only the income and expenses from the period you used that home, and any amount cut by that limit cannot be carried to another year. These figures follow the 2025 IRS publications, the latest editions available; confirm the $5 rate and 300 square foot cap for 2026 with a CPA or EA.

What does the 15-day rule mean for a mid-month move?

Under the simplified method only, a month counts toward the average monthly allowable square footage only if you used the space for qualified business use at least 15 days of that month; otherwise that month is entered as zero. If you moved on July 18 and set up the new office that day, the new home has 14 days of July (zero for that month) while the old home has 17 days (a full month). The rule applies to the home you elect the simplified method for, so a short stub month in that home can cost you a month of deduction. The actual-expense method on Form 8829 has no 15-day cliff because it simply follows the expenses incurred while you used the home for business. Ask a CPA or EA to check the dates on your return.

Which home should I use the simplified method for after a move?

There is no universal answer; compare the two combinations. Simplified on one home plus Form 8829 on the other is the only permitted mix besides actual expenses on both. The simplified method pays at most $5 per square foot of allowable area, prorated by the months you used it, so it tends to suit the home where you had a small office, few months of use or messy records. Actual expenses tend to win in the home with higher rent or housing costs and a larger business percentage. In this guide's recomputed example, simplified on the old apartment and actual expenses on the new one produced $3,027.29, versus $2,720.22 the other way around and $4,889.18 if actual expenses were used in both homes. Your numbers will differ, so ask a CPA or EA to run both combinations.

Do I need two Forms 8829 if I moved and use actual expenses in both homes?

Yes. The Form 8829 instructions say to use a separate Form 8829 for each home you used for the business during the year, and for the second home you include only the income and deductions attributable to the period you used that home. Each form figures its own business percentage, expense limit and any carryover. Expenses for the part of the year you did not use a home for business are not deductible. A CPA or EA can confirm how your software combines the two forms on Schedule C Line 30.

Does my old unused carryover of home office expenses survive if I use the simplified method this year?

You cannot deduct a carryover of unallowed actual expenses in a year you use the simplified method for the home; the IRS says the disallowed amount keeps carrying over to the next year you use actual expenses. Publication 587 says the carryover is subject to the deduction limit for that later year whether or not you live in the same home then, so it follows you rather than the address. What the guidance does not spell out is which of two Forms 8829 should carry it when you use actual expenses on both homes, or on only one, so treat that as a question for a CPA or EA before you elect the simplified method on the new home or the old one.

Can I still deduct mortgage interest and property taxes if I use the simplified method for my old home?

Only as ordinary personal deductions. When you use the simplified method for a home, the IRS treats its mortgage interest, real estate taxes and casualty losses as personal expenses, so they are deductible only if you itemize on Schedule A and are otherwise allowed. You also cannot deduct depreciation on the business part of that home for the year because it is deemed to be zero. If you claim actual expenses on that home instead, the business share of those costs and depreciation goes through Form 8829, and depreciation can matter later when you sell the home. Ask a CPA or EA before choosing.

Authoritative References

• IRS: Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home (More than one home; Part-year use or area changes; Electing the Simplified Method; Table 2)
• IRS: Instructions for Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home (separate Form 8829 for each home; Line 8; Columns (a) and (b))
• IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (Line 30; Business use of more than one home; Simplified Method Worksheet)
• IRS Revenue Procedure 2013-13: simplified method for the home office deduction
• IRS: Schedule C (Form 1040)
• IRS: Form 8829

Two homes, two sets of records, one tax return. Start a free CentSense account, scan every rent, utility and office receipt with AI as it arrives, and keep your miles dated so your preparer can compare the home office combinations. The free tier includes 10 AI receipt scans a month, and the Solo plan is $5/month for unlimited scans, mileage tracking and CSV export.

This guide is general education for U.S. freelancers filing a Schedule C in 2026. It is not personalized tax advice. Whether your space qualifies in each home, which home gets the simplified method, how depreciation and carryovers apply, and how the move affects your sale of a home depend on your facts, so confirm your numbers with a CPA or EA.