How much can I claim for working from home?

Under the ATO's revised fixed-rate method you can claim 70 cents for each hour you work from home. That single rate covers your energy, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables, so you don't add those bills on top. The ATO reviews the rate each year, so confirm the current figure at ato.gov.au before you lodge.

What records does the ATO now require for the fixed-rate method?

You need a record of the actual number of hours you worked from home across the whole income year — a timesheet, diary, roster or spreadsheet kept as you go. An estimate or a typical four-week sample is no longer accepted. You must also keep at least one bill for each running expense the rate covers, to show you actually incurred those costs.

Can I claim my desk, chair or laptop separately?

Yes. The decline in value (depreciation) of assets like office furniture, a laptop, monitor or phone is claimed separately, on top of the 70 cents per hour. The fixed rate only covers your ongoing running costs, not the equipment itself. Keep the purchase receipts so you can work out the deduction over the asset's effective life.

Can I claim rent or mortgage interest for working from home?

Generally no. For most employees, occupancy expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, council rates and home insurance are not deductible. They can only be claimed in limited cases where part of your home is a genuine place of business, and doing so may affect the capital gains tax exemption on your main residence.

The Work-From-Home Tax Deduction (ATO Fixed-Rate Method)

Last updated 4 July 2026

If you spend part of your week working from the kitchen table or a spare room, the ATO lets you claim some of the extra running costs that come with it. But the rules changed a few years back, and the record-keeping is stricter than most people realise. This guide walks through the revised fixed-rate method (70 cents an hour), how it compares to the actual-cost method, exactly what each one covers, and the one habit that trips people up: you now need a record of every hour, not a tidy estimate at tax time.

The two methods, at a glance

There are two ways to work out a working from home deduction. You choose whichever gives the better result — but you can only use one method per income year, and each has its own record-keeping.

	Fixed-rate method	Actual-cost method
What you claim	70c per hour worked from home	The real work-related portion of each running cost
Covers	Energy, phone, internet, stationery, consumables — bundled	Every expense, calculated individually
Hours record	Actual hours for the whole year	Actual hours (or a representative record)
Effort	Low	High — you apportion each bill
Best when	You want simple, or bills are modest	You have a dedicated office and high running costs

The revised fixed-rate method (70c an hour)

The fixed-rate method is the simple one. You multiply the hours you worked from home by the rate — 70 cents at the time of writing — and that's your claim. You no longer need a separate dedicated home office to use it; working from the couch counts.

What the 70c rate covers

The rate bundles together the everyday running costs of working from home:

Energy — electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting
Home and mobile phone usage
Internet (home and mobile data)
Stationery and computer consumables (paper, ink, and the like)

Because these are baked into the 70c, you can't also claim them separately — that would be double-dipping.

What it does not cover (claim these on top)

Some things sit outside the rate and can be claimed separately:

The decline in value of assets like your desk, chair, laptop, monitor or phone
Repairs and maintenance of those assets
Cleaning of a dedicated home office, if you have one

Keep the purchase receipts for any equipment — a scan in Snapceipt captures the merchant, date and GST so the depreciation record is ready when you need it.

The record-keeping catch: every hour, not an estimate

Here's the part that catches people out. To use the fixed-rate method you must keep a record of the total actual hours you worked from home across the entire income year. A rough estimate, or a four-week sample scaled up to a year, is no longer good enough.

That record can be a timesheet, roster, diary or spreadsheet — but it has to be kept as you go, not reconstructed in July. On top of the hours, you also need at least one bill for each running expense the rate covers (say, one electricity bill and one phone bill), just to show you genuinely incurred those costs.

The actual-cost method

The actual-cost method is more work but can pay off if your running costs are high. You claim the real work-related portion of each expense — so you'd work out what fraction of your electricity, internet and phone relates to work, using a reasonable basis like floor area or hours of use, and claim that share.

It needs solid records: the actual bills, plus evidence of how you apportioned each one between work and private use. If you go this route, storing every energy, phone and internet bill in one place matters — Snapceipt keeps them BAS-ready alongside your other receipts, so nothing's lost when you sit down to calculate.

Which method should you choose?

There's no universal answer — it depends on your hours and your bills.

Choose the fixed rate if you want the least fuss, or your household running costs are modest. The maths is one line.
Choose actual cost if you have a dedicated work area and heavy energy, internet or phone use — the individual apportionment can beat 70c an hour.
Run both for a year before you lodge. Do the quick fixed-rate sum, roughly estimate the actual-cost figure, and go with the larger — provided you have the records to back it.

This same "pick the better method" logic shows up elsewhere in tax, too — see car expenses: cents per km vs logbook for the driving equivalent, and the sole trader tax deductions checklist for what else you might be missing.

Keeping it painless

The working from home deduction rewards a steady habit over a tax-time scramble. Log your hours in a running diary, hold on to one bill per covered expense, and file the receipts for any equipment you buy. Fold it into your broader routine for tracking business expenses and it's a few minutes a month rather than a lost weekend.

This is general information, not tax advice — check ato.gov.au or a registered tax agent for your situation. Rates like the 70c figure are reviewed by the ATO each year, so confirm the current amount before you lodge.