Can you deduct ‘work from home’ expenses?

(KYMA, KECY/CNN)- If you've been working from home much of this year, you've probably spent some money trying to make your living space more conducive for working.

Maybe you bought some supplies, a new desk or a chair, or you're just paying more for a better Internet connection.

If so, you may be wondering if you're allowed to take the home office tax deduction for those expenses on your 2020 federal tax return.

The short answer is, probably not. If you work full-time for someone else, you're out of luck.

"Employees who receive a paycheck or a W-2 exclusively from an employer are not eligible for the deduction, even if they are currently working from home," the IRS noted last month.

It used to be that employees who itemized deductions on their federal returns were allowed to include any unreimbursed work expenses as part of their "miscellaneous" deductions.

But the 2017 tax overhaul eliminated that option, said Nathan Rigney, a lead tax research analyst for H&R Block's Tax Institute.

In order to get a tax break, your miscellaneous deductions had to exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income and even then you were only allowed to deduct the amount over that 2% threshold.

The people most likely to be eligible to claim the home office tax deduction are those who are self-employed -- meaning they run their own business out of their homes, or are independent contractors or freelancers working on assignments from home.

But they must meet the following rules: You may only deduct expenses for the portion of your home that is used exclusively and regularly for business and your home must be your principal place of business.