{"id":12257,"date":"2021-06-28T15:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T05:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.auzi.com\/portal\/?p=12257"},"modified":"2022-07-14T10:33:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T00:33:12","slug":"work-from-home-tax-deductions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.auzi.com\/portal\/small-business\/work-from-home-tax-deductions\/","title":{"rendered":"Working from Home in 2022: How to claim your Tax Deduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Working from Home: Claiming your Tax Deduction<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

If you’re anything like me, it’s probably only just clicked – In Late June – that tax season is upon us. That’s mostly worked for me in the past, since it’s pretty simple jumping onto MyGov and checking that the details of my automatically uploaded T4’s are correct. In fact, up until this year I’ve thought of myself as a Tax wizard because of how easy it’s been… But I’ve never been entitled to a tax deduction for working from home before..<\/p>

I’ve been doing some deep digging into the Australian Taxation Office<\/a>, and what exactly I can get out of my 2022 return. So if you’re part of the WFH crew like me, sit down, sip away at your coffee (Which, no… isn’t tax deductible) and let me show you what you can<\/em> and cannot<\/em> get from your WFH tax return in 2022.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"work\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

What can you Claim if you Work from Home in 2022?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Going into this, I was under the assumption that the ATO would have you jumping through fiery hoops just to get even a slight reduction on your tax return. But you know what they say about assuming…<\/p>

Essentially, there’s 3 options. The ATO calls these the Shortcut Method<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, Fixed Rate Method<\/strong><\/span> <\/em>and the Actual Cost Method<\/strong><\/span><\/em>. Respectively, I call them the Lazy Method, Not-So-Lazy Method, and the Organised-Adult Method. The fiery-hoop option is there if you want, in way of the Actual Cost Method, but we’ll get into that soon. For clarity and expediency, the Shortcut method was introduced during Covid as a more time-effective alternative to the Fixed Rate method. We will not be discussing the Fixed Rate method, as the Shortcut method seems to provide greater benefits. First things first, the Shortcut (AKA Lazy) method.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Shortcut Method<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This is by far the most simple of the options for claiming your work from home expenses, and it’s definitely the one I’ll be using. The shortcut method is simple; do you know how many hours you worked from home? Well, then you can claim 80 cents for every hour you did. It’s as simple as that, so long as you have documentation to back it up.\u00a0<\/p>

While it is the most simple, you may not get the most back from this method. This method is for those of us who aren’t used to working remotely, who suddenly find themselves in that situation. As two out of five Australians work from home<\/a> at least once a week now, there’s a chance you could be entitled to a reduction without even being aware of it. The shortcut method was introduced during Covid and covers all deductible running expenses for working from home. However, it cannot be used in unison with any other Work-related deductions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

Actual Cost Method<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This is the method where you can get the most out of your tax return, however, as I’ve dubbed this the ‘Organised-Adult Method’, it’s definitely the one I won’t be using. At least for this year. The Actual Cost method requires a lot of documentation and time in order to determine the Actual Cost of reduction you are entitled to. Obviously, if your entire working arrangement is remote, you are using quite a few resources at home. The standard 80c\/Hour rate given in the shortcut method might not give you the most accurate return, so this is the method for you. Obviously, you need to be able to prove that you actually work from home. In order to do this you’ll need to provide the ATO with either a record of the number of hours you work from home or a diary for a representative four-week period of work. This is the easy part. However, for everything else – you’ll need to do a bit more work. The Actual Cost Method can cover any of the following expenses<\/a>;<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t