DFK Gooding Partners

July 3, 2020

Categories: Tax Advisory & Compliance, Tax Returns

Due to the global pandemic, many have found themselves working from home for the first time.

If you’ve worked from home between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, you may able to claim a deduction for home office expenses.

The Australian Taxation Office has introduced a shortcut method to ease the compliance burden during this time of uncertainty.

This method uses a flat “80 cents per hour” rate, which covers all home office expenses, including:

  • Electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting
  • Phone and internet
  • Computer consumables and stationery (such as ink)
  • Depreciation of equipment and furniture (including phones, computers / laptops and desks)

Under this method, you DO NOT need to have a dedicated work area (for example, a spare room that is solely used as a home office), it could just be your dining room table.

Taxpayers who wish to claim under this method must have records of the number of hours they worked from home. This could be from:

  • Timesheets
  • Rosters
  • Diary or other records

Please note that the fixed rate method and the actual cost method are still available to individuals who have claimed deductions under either of these methods in previous years.

For more information from the Australian Taxation Office, click here.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact our friendly team on (08) 9327 1777.