 TITLE: How Are Freelancers Taxed? CONTENT: Rules About Tax Deductions\n--------------------------\nWhile tax deductions can ease the financial pain of freelancing, keep in mind that they come with wrinkles. For instance, to qualify for a home office deduction, you in most cases must regularly and exclusively use a certain part of your house (such as a spare bedroom converted into an office) for business. A spare room that you only occasionally use for freelance work likely won't pass the IRS' test. Also, you probably won't be able to count your entire home for tax purposes.\nFurthermore, you might need to undertake the complicated task of itemizing your deductions and keep meticulous records to back up those itemized deductions. If you go the itemization route, you'll need to file a Schedule A form for personal write-offs and a Schedule C form for business write-offs.\nWhat if you don't want to bother with itemizing your deductions? You can take a standard deduction. The IRS advises that you should itemize deductions if the total dollar amount you could deduct exceeds what you'd gain from a standard deduction, or if you can't use the standard deduction. For 2020, the standard deduction is $12,400 for single people or separate filers, $18,650 for heads of household and $24,800 for joint filers. END