Working from home? How to claim your home office tax deductions
With more office employees working from home as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the number of claims made to the Australian Taxation Office for home office expenses this year will soar.
There are three ways of calculating home office expenses depending on your circumstances. The methods are the:
- Shortcut method (80 cents) – only available 1 March to 30 June 2020
- Fixed rate method (52 cents)
- Actual cost method
The ATO have introduced a shortcut method to simplify how you calculate your deduction for working from home. This method is temporary and only available for the period 1 March to 30 June 2020. All employees working from home in this period can use this method.
Using this method, you can claim 80 cents per hour for each hour you work from home during the period 1 March to 30 June 2020.