Working from home deduction from 1 July 2022

 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.

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:

• energy expenses (electricity and/or gas) for lighting, heating/cooling and electronic items used while working from home
• internet expenses
• mobile and/or home telephone expenses, and
• stationery and computer consumables.

This amount is different from the previous couple of years where an amount of 80 cents per hour was available if you were required to work from home due to COVID-19.

However, 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, you will need to keep a diary of the days you work from home. This can be backed up by evidence such as your timesheet or a roster.

If you require any more information about calculating this deduction, please let us know and we will be happy to assist you further.