Working from home again this year?

The Australian Taxation Office has changed the way taxpayers claim deductions for costs incurred when working from home to reflect contemporary working from home arrangements.

When submitting your tax return, you can choose one of two methods to claim your working from home deductions: the “actual cost” or the “fixed rate” method.

This year, the ATO has changed the fixed rate method, with the amount you can claim for each hour you work from home increasing from 52 cents to 67 cents an hour.

This covers general expenses like electricity and gas, phone usage (mobile and home), internet, stationery, and computer consumables. No additional deduction for any expenses covered by the rate can be claimed.

There are no changes to the actual cost method.

You must keep records to show you incur expenses as a result of working from home. The type of records you need will depend on the method you choose to calculate expenses.

For more information, visit the ATO website.