The deduction for home office expenses is driven by the size of your home office relative to the size of your entire home. For example, if your home office is 100 square feet and your home totals 2,000 square feet, you could deduct 5% of your expenses. The deduction cannot exceed your employment income, but any excess can be carried forward and deducted in a future year, if you work at the same employer.
If you earn commission income and your expenses exceed your commission income or similar amounts you received, you may be able to use another method. Speak with a qualified tax advisor to understand your options.
You may also be required to pay for other items, such as office supplies or certain phone expenses. If so, you may be able to claim those expenses, as well. These expenses are not prorated by the size of your workspace.
Question 3: Did you work from home more than 50% of the time for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in the year?
Generally, if you work from home at least three days in a week and had done so for at least four consecutive weeks, you are eligible to claim home office expenses for the time that you worked from home. For example, if you worked from home three days a week for the first six months of the year, you can claim home office expenses incurred in that period.
Part-time employees can qualify based on their normal work schedule. For example, if you normally work three days a week, working at home for at least two days each week would allow you to qualify.
Question 4: Do you have a completed and signed Form T2200 from your employer?
You must obtain a completed and signed Form T2200 Declaration of Condition of Employment from your employer. Electronic signatures will be accepted.
Claiming your expenses – next steps
If you meet the criteria above, here’s a list of some things that you’ll need to do:
- gather and total your expenses (outlined above),
- measure your home and office space and calculate the % that you can claim,
- confirm that you worked from home more than 50% of the time for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in the year,
- and ask your employer for a completed and signed T2200 Declaration of Condition of Employment.
