The employee can be reimbursed for the home office percentage of rent or mortgage expenses depreciation utilities and other costs of maintaining the home.
Home office expenses utilities. Enter on line 22900 the allowable amount of your employment expenses from the total expenses line of form t777. Home office expenses are generally calculated in proportion to how much your business space takes up relative to your entire home. Taxpayers using the regular method required for tax years 2012 and prior instead of the optional method must determine the actual expenses of their home office. Linus uses his home office including the desk and chair for both work and private purposes.
Mario is an employee forced to work at home due to the coronavirus for two months. Indirect home office expenses relate to the house that the office is inside and are only partially deductible. Internet service falls into its own category but it can be deducted as long as it is solely for business purposes. Utilities and services are vital to keeping the lights on in an office.
Enter the lower amount of line 24 or 25 of form t777 at line 9945. Utilities and mortgage interest are examples of indirect expenses. When completing his tax return linus usually claims his home office expenses using the fixed rate method. For example let s say your total allowable indirect home expenses for your whole home are 20 000 for a specific year and your home office space is 10 of your home for business purposes.
He works out that his private use is 10. These expenses may include mortgage interest insurance utilities repairs and depreciation. Your deduction would be 2 000 meaning that you have just saved 2 000 by claiming a home office expense deduction. For example if your home office is 200 square feet and your home is 1 600 square feet your office takes up 12 5 of your home.
Unrelated home expenses such as lawn care or painting a room other than your office are not deductible for your home office. If your office uses 15 office square footage is 150 and your home total square footage is 1000 then 150 1000 0 15 x 100 15 of your home then you will deduct 15 of 1200 and you will be able to claim 180 you will do this for all of your home expenses for the year not only utilities. Complete the calculation of work space in the home expenses portion of form t777 statement of employment expenses.