The canada revenue agency cra has stringent conditions that determine whether a home business owner can claim business use of home expenses the home office tax deduction.
Calculating home office space for taxes canada. To calculate your business use of home expenses complete the calculation of business use of home expenses section on form t2125 part 7. The amount you can deduct for work space in the home expenses is limited to the amount of employment income remaining after all other employment expenses have been deducted. If you opt for the general method using form 8829 expenses for business use of home the first task is to calculate the percentage of business use to do this you divide the square footage of your office space by the total square footage of the home. Requirements for qualifying to deduct expenses including special rules for storing inventory or product samples.
Enter on line 22900 the allowable amount of your employment expenses from the total expenses line of form t777. Completing your tax return. If your home is 1 000 square feet and your home office measures 200 square feet you ll be able to claim an amount equal to 20 200. However you cannot deduct mortgage interest property taxes home insurance or capital cost allowance.
How to calculate your home office deduction. Once you ve calculated your expense amounts you need to figure out how much space you used within your home to complete your work and what portion of the expense can be attributed to this space. Complete the calculation of work space in the home expenses portion of form t777 statement of employment expenses. First determine if your workspace qualifies and then look at which expenses you can claim.
If your office space is in a rented house or apartment where you live deduct the percentage of the rent and any maintenance costs you paid that relate to the work space. Typical indirect expenses include rent mortgage interest utilities insurance and general home repairs. To calculate the percentage of work space in the home expenses you can deduct use a reasonable basis such as the area of the work space divided by the total finished area including hallways bathrooms kitchens etc. To do so count the hours per day you use the room for work and then divide that number by 24.
The canada revenue agency allows you to deduct business use of home or workspace in the home expenses from your income lowering your taxable income and reducing your tax burden. Calculating home business deductions for shared spaces. Self employed individuals and qualified employees can claim expenses associated with having a home office. Enter the lower amount of line 24 or 25 of form t777 at line 9945.
In this publication you will find. In this publication you will find. If your home office doubles as a guest room lounge or personal area you need to take your calculation a step further by factoring in how much time you spend working there.