Temporary COVID-19 Tax Deductions for Working From Home

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Due to COVID-19 Public Health directives, many people have been working at home and using their kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms as their workspace.

In response, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a new temporary flat rate method to simplify claiming the deduction for home office expenses for the 2020 tax year.

As an employee, you may be able to claim a deduction for home office expenses (work-space-in-the-home expenses, office supplies, and certain phone expenses). This deduction is claimed on your personal income tax return. Deductions reduce the amount of income you pay tax on, so they reduce your overall income tax liability.

The new temporary flat rate method simplifies your claim for home office expenses. You are eligible to use this new method if you worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can claim $2 for each day you worked from home during that period plus any additional days you worked at home in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum you can claim using the new temporary flat rate method is $400 (200 working days) per individual.

Each individual working from home who meets all the eligibility criteria can use the temporary flat rate method to calculate their deduction for home office expenses. This means multiple people working from the same home can each make a claim.

This method can only be used for the 2020 tax year.

A comprehensive list of eligible home office expenses has also been created.

For more information on working from home expenses go to Canada.ca/cra-home-workspace-expenses.

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