Working from home: What deductions can you claim?

For a while now, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been concerned about tax deductions individuals have been claiming for a whole host of expenses. The latest on their ‘hit list’ are home office expenses.  We guide you through what you can and can’t claim if you work from home.

Last financial year, 6.7 million taxpayers claimed a record $7.9 billion in deductions for ‘other work-related expenses’ which includes expenses for working from home. While the ATO appreciates that technology has led to more people working from home and greater flexibility, they don’t believe that all of the claims being made are legitimate. Take the example of the school principal who claimed $2,400 for electricity and phone expenses incurred during the year. The principal had a letter from the school verifying that they were required to work from home outside of school hours but could not explain how she calculated the claim. The principal ended up voluntarily reducing the claim by 70%. Or, the advertising manager who claimed her rent as a tax deduction because she worked from home at irregular hours to manage the timeframes of overseas clients. Her deduction for rent was rejected.

A major bugbear for the ATO are the people who claim 100% of their expenses like mobile phone plans and internet services when they are mostly for personal use. If you claim 100% of your phone and internet and you are not running a business from home, you can expect the ATO to look closely at your claims (that goes for subcontractors as well!).

What can you claim?

Working from home

A lot of people do some sort of work from home. It might be simply answering emails on the couch or working from home a few days a week. So, what can you claim if you’re putting in extra hours?

If you don’t have a dedicated work area but you do some work on the couch or at the dining room table, you can claim some of your expenses like the work-related portion of your phone and internet expenses and the decline in value of your computer. This of course assumes that your employer doesn’t reimburse you for your phone and internet expenses and you purchased your computer for yourself. 

You can claim up to $50 for phone and internet expenses without substantiating the claim (although the ATO may still ask you to prove that you actually incurred the expense), or you can work out your actual expenses (see Working out the work-related portion of your expenses).

If you have a dedicated work area, there are a few more expenses you can claim including some of the running costs of your home such as a portion of your electricity expenses and the decline in value of office equipment (see Working out the work-related portion of your expenses).