Countless Aussies are still working from home offices, dining tables or maybe even the couch (#guilty). If that’s you, you’re gonna wanna get your head around what that means for your tax return (hint: sweet,sweet tax deductions).

Think about it… There’s the extra time you keep the lights on, the internet you use, and even the depreciation in value of your trusty office chair. Work from home tax deductions exist to help offset these expenses.

‍What can I claim?‍

There are three criteria each work expense needs to meet:

1. You spent the money yourself (and your employer didn’t pay you back)
2. The expense is directly related to earning your income
3. You’ve got a record of the purchase (i.e. a receipt)

Also, working from home means really working from home… Not just answering calls or a few emails after hours.

How do I actually claim home office expenses?

When it comes to the nitty gritty of claiming your working from home expenses, you’ve got three methods to choose from.

1. The shortcut method

This method allows you to claim 80 cents for every hour you worked from home this financial year. Super easy! The catch: you can’t claim any other expenses even if you bought new office equipment.

If you choose this method, just make sure you keep a record of the hours you’ve worked from home. So, if you worked from home 15 hours per week, that’s $12 per week. Or, around $624 a year - but that’s all you can claim.

2. The fixed rate method

The fixed rate method lets you claim 52 cents per hour of working from home, for:

• The decline in value of office furniture
• Power (i.e. electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting)
• Cleaning for your home office.

Buuut unlike the shortcut method, you can still claim the work-related portion for some other expenses, like:

• Phone, data and internet expenses
• Computer consumables and stationery (like ink)
• The decline in the value of depreciating assets other than home office furniture, like computers or laptops.

This method requires you to have a dedicated work area (an actual home office - not the couch, soz). You’ll also need to have incurred extra running expenses (like power) as a result of working from home.

Records are also essential, both for the number of hours worked at home and any additional expenses not covered by the fixed rate.

3. The actual cost method

This method is probably the trickiest… but it’s also likely to produce the most deductions. 

To use this method, you’ll need to keep receipts or records for every work-related expense you’ve incurred in the financial year, as well as records of how many hours you worked from home.

You can claim expenses like:

• The decline in value of depreciating assets (i.e. home office furniture, phones, computers)
• Cleaning expenses (only if you have a dedicated area for working)
• Heating, cooling and lighting
• Phone and internet
• Computer consumables

The good news is you don’t need a dedicated workspace for this one - AKA you can work from the couch as much as you like. However, if you don’t have a dedicated workspace, you won’t be able to claim some additional running expenses like lighting.

‍What can’t I claim?

• Delicious WFH snacks
• A pet pug to keep you company
• A stress-relieving Disneyland trip
• Mario Kart games for ya Switch (we know what you’re doing on your midday break).

All information contained in the Flux app is for education and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional financial, legal or tax advice. While we do our best to provide accurate information on the podcast, we accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be communicated.