Whilst life in Queensland seems to have returned to some level of ‘normal’, there are still many businesses with employees opting to work from home. With this in mind, the ATO has recently extended the shortcut method for claiming work from home running expenses.
The shortcut method, which initially applied to end of June 2020, has been extended until 31 December 2020. You can use the shortcut method to calculate your working at home expenses for the period from both:
- 1 March to 30 June 2020 in your 2019–20 tax return
- 1 July to 31 December 2020 in your 2020–21 tax return.
What is the shortcut method?
The shortcut method simplifies how you calculate your deduction for working from home. Using this method, you can claim 80 cents per hour for each hour you work from home.
All employees who work from home during these dates can use this method if you:
- are working from home to fulfil your employment duties, not just carrying out minimal tasks such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls
- have incurred additional running expenses as a result of working from home.
The shortcut method covers all your working from home expenses, such as:
- phone expenses
- internet expenses
- the decline in value of equipment and furniture
- electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting.
If you use this method, you can’t claim any other expenses for working from home.
To find out more about work from home expenses, how you can claim and what you can claim, visit the ATO’s website here.