The number of coronavirus cases is expected to climb significantly in the coming weeks. Already, many employers are activating emergency plans to keep their businesses open while protecting staff and a key component of that is to encourage – or even mandate – staff to work from home for an extended period.
However, working from home comes with its own challenges, not least the additional costs that it imposes on employees.
Think about it: increased utility bills, increased use of your personal mobile phone and home internet, and even increased expenses for keeping your home working area clean and tidy, are just some of the additional costs that many will face as they respond to the challenge of home working.
So, is it possible to claim a tax deduction for any of these extra costs? Happily, the answer is yes.
What tax deductions can you claim?
If you work from home, you can claim the work-related proportions of household costs such as:
- Heating, cooling and lighting bills;
- Costs of cleaning your home working area;
- Depreciation of home office furniture and fittings;
- Depreciation of office equipment and computers;
- Costs of repairing home office equipment, furniture and furnishings;
- Small capital items such as furniture and computer equipment costing less than $300 can be written off in full immediately (they don’t need to be depreciated);
- Computer consumables (like printer ink) and stationery; and
