ATO finalises revised fixed rate for work from home expenses
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has refreshed the way that taxpayers claim deductions for costs incurred when working from home. The changes better reflect contemporary working from home arrangements.
The biggest and more onerous change is that from the 1st March 2023, taxpayer will need to record the total number of hours they work from home. The ATO will not be accepting estimates or a 4week representative diary. It must be a proper record of hours worked from home, for example, timesheets, rosters, logs of time spent accessing employer or business systems, or a diary for the full year.
Other Key changes between the previous and revised fixed rate are:
- An increased rate – from 52 cents to 67 cents per hour worked from home
- Removal of the requirement to have a separate home office or dedicated work area.
- Inclusion of mobile and home phones and internet expenses as well as electricity and gas usage, computer consumables and stationery costs. NOTE – This means there will no longer be a separate claim allowed for your mobile phone if you are using the home office fixed rate.
- Taxpayers will now have to separately claim the decline in value of work-related equipment, office furniture, and any other running expenses not covered by the rate per hour.