Guide to claiming deductions

Home office expenses

What you may be able to claim

If you perform some of your work from a home office, you may be eligible to claim a deduction for the costs you incur in running your home office, including:

• the decline in value (depreciation) of home office equipment such as computers and telecommunications equipment. If your equipment costs less than $300, you can claim a full deduction for the work-related portion
• work-related phone calls (including mobiles) and phone rental 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.

You can: use our Home office expenses calculator to help work out your claim amount find out more about calculating decline in value by checking Work-related expenses - decline in value.

You need to keep records of your home office expenses.

What you cannot claim

As an employee, you are generally not able to claim a deduction for occupancy expenses. Occupancy expenses include rent or mortgage interest, council rates, and house insurance premiums.

To help you work out if you are entitled to claim occupancy expenses, use our Home office expenses calculator.

Claiming deductions - home

Sections within Home office expenses

• Keeping records of your home office expenses