You may be entitled to claim deductions for home expenses including a computer, phone or other electronic devices you are required to use for work purposes, as well as a deduction for running costs.
Claim Deductions
As an employee, generally you cannot claim a deduction for occupancy expenses, including rent, mortgage interest, council rates and house insurance premiums.
Claiming a computer, phone or other electronic device as a work-related expense
If you are an employee and required to use your computer, phone or other electronic device for work purposes, you may be able to claim a deduction for your costs.
Running costs
If you perform some of your work from a home office, you may be entitled to a deduction for the costs you incur in running it, including:
- for home office equipment, such as computers, printers and telephones, the cost(for items costing up to $300) or decline in value (for items costing $300 or more)
- work-related phone calls (including mobiles) and phone rental (a portion reflecting the share of work-related use of the line) if you can show you are on call, or have to phone your employer or clients regularly while you are away from your workplace
- heating, cooling and lighting
- the costs of repairs to your home office furniture and fittings
- Cleaning expenses.
Records you must keep
You must keep records of home expenses, such as:
- receipts or other written evidence of your expenses, including receipts for depreciating assets you have purchased
- diary entries you make to record your small expenses ($10 or less) totalling no more than $200, or expenses you cannot get any kind of evidence for, regardless of the amount
- itemised phone accounts from which you can identify work-related calls, or other records, such as diary entries (if you do not get an itemised account from your telephone company)
- a diary you have created to work out how much you used your equipment, home office and phone for business purposes over a representative four-week period.
If you want to know further about your entitlements on claiming home office deductions, please contact one of our tax accountants on 02 9223 9166 or submit an online enquiry form today.
