In December 2021, we featured a blog article titled Working From Home Deductions – What can you claim?

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued new guidelines to help you in making a claim for running expenses while working from home from 1 July 2022.

The record keeping requirements and methods for calculating working from home deductions has changed for the 2022-23 income year onwards.

From the 2022-23 income year, the methods available to calculate working from home deductions are:

Method # 1 – Revised fixed rate method

Method # 2 – Actual cost method.

While the actual cost method remains unchanged, the revised fixed rate method has been updated to better reflect working from home arrangements, making it easier to calculate and avoid apportionment calculations.

Under this guidance, the ATO will allow you to make a claim of 67 cents per hour for time spent working from home. This claim is a simplified method which includes expenses for:

1. energy expenses (electricity and/or gas) for lighting, heating/cooling and electronic items used while working from home

2. internet expenses

3. mobile and/or home telephone expenses, and

4. stationery and computer consumables.

Under the revised fixed-rate method you can now make a separate claim for depreciation on furniture and equipment that you use when you work from home.

In order to make this claim under the “revised fixed rate method”, you will need to:

1. Keep a diary of the days you work from home. This can be backed up by evidence such as your timesheet or a roster.

2. Maintain records that show you incurred additional running expenses listed above as a result of working from home (such as receipts / invoices).

The temporary Short Cut Method which was available for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 financial years is no longer applicable from 1 July 2022. Under this previous method 80 cents per hour was available if you were required to work from home due to COVID-19.

Please contact us if you would like to find out more about how you can claim working from home deductions.

The team at EMspire Advisory are trusted, qualified Chartered Accountants, tax agents, and small business accountants. We work closely with our clients to achieve the best possible outcomes.  To find out more, please contact us!

Please note that this information is not specific and is general in nature and cannot be relied on as advice. Please contact us for advice specific to you and your circumstances.