Working from home expenses

Employees working from home may be able to claim a deduction for the expenses they incur that relate to their work.

To claim your working from home expenses, you must:

• be working from home to fulfil your employment duties, not just carrying out minimal tasks, such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls

• incur additional expenses as a result of working from home.

You can claim a deduction for the additional running expenses you incur as a result of working from home. Running expenses are expenses which relate to the use of facilities within your home and include:

• Electricity expenses for heating or cooling and lighting

• The decline in value of office furniture and furnishings as well other items used for work – for example, a laptop

• Internet expenses

• Phone expenses

If your employer pays you an allowance to cover your working from home expenses, you must include it as income in your tax return.

How to claim work from home expenses

To claim a deduction for expenses you incur when working from home you need to:

• use one of the methods set out below to calculate your deduction

• keep records that show you incurred the expenses

	​How it works	Eligibility	Example
​Fixed Rate	An amount per work hour for additional running expenses plus expenses not covered by the fixed rate	You can claim the fixed rate of 52 cents for each hour you worked from home	If you record the hours you work from home during a 4 week representative period you can use it across the rest of the income year to work out the total number of hours you work from home
Actual Cost	The actual expenses you incur as a result of working from home	Using the actual costs method, you work out your deduction by calculating the actual expenses you incur to produce your income when working from home	For example, if you purchase a device for $289 which you use 80% of the time for work-related purposes and 20% of the time for private purposes, you can only claim a deduction of $231 (80% × $289) in the income year you purchased it
Shortcut	An all-inclusive rate per work hour, only available from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2022	The temporary shortcut method simplifies how you calculate your deduction for working from home expenses.	You can claim 80 cents per hour for each hour you work from home - However you can't claim any other expenses for working from home, even if you bought new equipment.

You can use the myDeductions tool in the ATO app to keep track of your expenses and receipts throughout the year. It’s a fast, easy way to capture information on the go by taking and uploading photos of receipts.