As you are aware, end of financial year is fast approaching.
As many of you may have been impacted by covid-19 restrictions, and as such have had to work from home, particularly the last few months, we have put together a small fact sheet on what you can and cant claim for your working from home expenses.
If you were working from home due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ATO have allowed a claim of 80c per hour from 1 March 2020 until at least 30 June 2020. To claim this, you should start (if you have not already) putting together a log of the hours you have worked from home during this period.
Outside of these dates, you can still claim 52c per hour working from home. This method denies the use of claiming actual expenses listed below and is a lot easier to calculate an keep records for if you want to simplify your tax records. To claim under this method, you must keep records of either:
- your actual hours spent working at home for the year
- a diary for a representative four-week period to show your usual pattern of working at home.
If you would like to use the alternative method of actual expenses, here is what you can claim:
Actual Expenses you can claim
- electricity expenses associated with heating, cooling and lighting the area from which you are working and running items you are using for work
- cleaning costs for a dedicated work area
- phone and internet expenses
- computer consumables (for example, printer paper and ink) and stationery
- home office equipment, including computers, printers, phones, furniture and furnishings – you can claim either the
- full cost of items up to $300
- decline in value for items over $300.
Further to this, you must keep records of the following:
- keep a record of the number of actual hours you work from home during the income year
- keep a diary for a representative four-week period to show your usual pattern of working at home
- work out the cost of your cleaning expenses (if you have a dedicated work area) – for example, a room set up as a home office, by adding together your receipts and multiplying it by the floor area of your dedicated work area (floor area of the dedicated work area divided by the whole area of the house as a percentage) – your claim should be apportioned for any private use of your home office
- use of the home office by other family members
- work out the cost of your heating, cooling and lighting by working out the following
- the cost per unit of power used – refer to your utility bill for this information
- the average units used per hour – this is the power consumption per kilowatt hour for each appliance, equipment or light used
- the total annual hours used for work-related purposes – refer to your record of hours worked or your diary for this information.
- work out the cost of your phone or internet plan expenses – where you receive an itemised bill, you need to determine your percentage of work use over a four-week representative period. See, Claiming mobile phone, internet and home phone expenses.
- You must take into account other members of your household when you work out your expenses. If a member of your household is using the same area of the house or the same service when you're working, you must apportion your expenses accordingly.
Actual Expenses you can’t claim
- occupancy expenses such as mortgage interest, rent and rates
- the cost of coffee, tea, milk and other general household items your employer may otherwise have provided you with at work.
- related to children and their education including setting them up for online learning, teaching them at home or buying equipment such as iPads and desks
- that you're reimbursed for, paid directly by your employer or the decline in value of items provided by your employer – for example, a laptop or a phone.
As you are aware, end of financial year is fast approaching.
As many of you may have been impacted by covid-19 restrictions, and as such have had to work from home, particularly the last few months, we have put together a small fact sheet on what you can and cant claim for your working from home expenses.
If you were working from home due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ATO have allowed a claim of 80c per hour from 1 March 2020 until at least 30 June 2020. To claim this, you should start (if you have not already) putting together a log of the hours you have worked from home during this period.
Outside of these dates, you can still claim 52c per hour working from home. This method denies the use of claiming actual expenses listed below and is a lot easier to calculate an keep records for if you want to simplify your tax records. To claim under this method, you must keep records of either:
- your actual hours spent working at home for the year
- a diary for a representative four-week period to show your usual pattern of working at home.
If you would like to use the alternative method of actual expenses, here is what you can claim:
Actual Expenses you can claim
- electricity expenses associated with heating, cooling and lighting the area from which you are working and running items you are using for work
- cleaning costs for a dedicated work area
- phone and internet expenses
- computer consumables (for example, printer paper and ink) and stationery
- home office equipment, including computers, printers, phones, furniture and furnishings – you can claim either the
- full cost of items up to $300
- decline in value for items over $300.
Further to this, you must keep records of the following:
- keep a record of the number of actual hours you work from home during the income year
- keep a diary for a representative four-week period to show your usual pattern of working at home
- work out the cost of your cleaning expenses (if you have a dedicated work area) – for example, a room set up as a home office, by adding together your receipts and multiplying it by the floor area of your dedicated work area (floor area of the dedicated work area divided by the whole area of the house as a percentage) – your claim should be apportioned for any private use of your home office
- use of the home office by other family members
- work out the cost of your heating, cooling and lighting by working out the following
- the cost per unit of power used – refer to your utility bill for this information
- the average units used per hour – this is the power consumption per kilowatt hour for each appliance, equipment or light used
- the total annual hours used for work-related purposes – refer to your record of hours worked or your diary for this information.
- work out the cost of your phone or internet plan expenses – where you receive an itemised bill, you need to determine your percentage of work use over a four-week representative period. See, Claiming mobile phone, internet and home phone expenses.
- You must take into account other members of your household when you work out your expenses. If a member of your household is using the same area of the house or the same service when you're working, you must apportion your expenses accordingly.
Actual Expenses you can’t claim
- occupancy expenses such as mortgage interest, rent and rates
- the cost of coffee, tea, milk and other general household items your employer may otherwise have provided you with at work.
- related to children and their education including setting them up for online learning, teaching them at home or buying equipment such as iPads and desks
- that you're reimbursed for, paid directly by your employer or the decline in value of items provided by your employer – for example, a laptop or a phone.