Just wanted to give you the heads up on some changes the ATO has made regarding working from home deductions for the 2023 income year.
If you’ve genuinely worked from home anytime between July 1st 2022 and June 30th 2023, you might be eligible to use the ATO’s revised fixed-rate method. This means you can claim for energy expenses (think electricity and gas), internet expenses, mobile and home telephone expenses, as well as stationery and computer consumables (like printing paper and printer cartridges).
Under this revised fixed-rate method, you can claim a fixed rate of 67 cents per hour for each hour you worked from home during the 2023 income year. Nice and simple, right? It’s an alternative to the actual expenses method, where you’d have to calculate and claim the work/business portion of each expense separately. This new method saves you time and hassle!
Now, let’s talk about record-keeping. If you’re using the ATO’s fixed-rate method, you’ll need to hold onto some receipts, bills, or invoices for the running expenses you’ve incurred. It’s all about being able to back up your claim if needed.
You’ll also need to keep a record of the number of hours you’ve worked from home throughout the year. Here’s the deal:
- From July 1st 2022 to February 28th 2023, the ATO generally accepts a record of the number of hours worked from home over a representative period (like a four-week diary). You can use this to estimate the total hours worked during that time.
- From March 1st 2023 onwards, you’ll need to keep a record of the actual hours worked from home. This means making a note (like a diary entry) of the hours worked each time you work from home. It’s all about keeping things accurate as the ATO are now looking hard at these claims.
We’ve prepared a sample working from home diary that you can use as a reference. Feel free to check it out!
If you’ve worked from home during the 2023 income year and need some help with how these revised rules affect you, reach out to our office. We’d love to chat with you and help navigate through it all to make sure you get the most out of your deductions.
