Working from home deductions: the records the ATO expects

Working from home is one of the most common deductions in Australia, and one of the most commonly adjusted. The reason is almost never that people didn't work from home. It's that they can't show how many hours they did, or can't produce a single bill for the costs they're claiming.

If you're lodging your 2025–26 return yourself, it's due by 31 October, which this year means Monday 2 November 2026, since 31 October falls on a Saturday. Here's what you need in front of you before you claim.

Can you claim at all?#

To claim working from home expenses, you must:

• work from home to do your job, not just check emails or take the odd call;
• incur additional running expenses because you work from home, such as higher electricity, internet or phone costs; and
• have records that show you incurred them.

You can't claim coffee, tea or other household items, anything your employer gave you (such as a work laptop or phone), or costs your employer reimbursed.

The fixed rate method: 70 cents an hour#

For 2025–26 the rate is 70 cents per work hour, unchanged from 2024–25. Multiply it by your total hours worked from home.

The rate covers these running expenses, and you can't claim them separately on top of it:

• electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting;
• home and mobile internet and data;
• mobile and home phone usage;
• stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper.

The records you need:

1. Your hours, for the whole year. A timesheet, roster, diary or spreadsheet you kept at the same time as you worked, not one reconstructed at tax time.
2. One record for each expense the rate covers. If you had electricity and internet costs, keep one quarterly electricity bill and one internet bill. You don't need every bill, but you need at least one of each.

What the fixed rate doesn't cover#

Equipment and furniture are claimed on top of the fixed rate:

• Depreciating assets such as a computer, monitor, chair, desk or bookshelf. You claim the work-related decline in value, apportioned if you also use them privately.
• Items costing $300 or less that you use mainly for work, such as a keyboard, mouse, power board, desk lamp or charger, can be claimed in full in the year you buy them.
• Repairs and maintenance of those items.

For these you need the receipt showing what you paid, and a record of how much you used the item for work, such as a diary. Keep those records for 5 years from your last claim for decline in value.

The actual cost method#

If your real costs are higher than the fixed rate reflects, you can claim what you actually spent instead. It's more work:

• Hours: either a record of actual hours for the whole year, or a continuous 4-week period that represents your usual pattern of working at home, such as a diary.
• Every expense: receipts, bills and other documents for each running cost you claim.
• Your working: how you calculated the work-related share, for example the cost of running a heater per hour multiplied by your work hours, or the share of calls marked as work on an itemised phone bill over 4 weeks.

In limited circumstances, a dedicated home office can also let you claim occupancy expenses, such as rent or mortgage interest, and the cost of cleaning that room.

Where it goes on your return#

Working from home expenses are claimed at D5, other work-related expenses. See D1 to D10 explained for the other labels.

Keep your records for 5 years from the date you lodge, in paper or as clear photos. If some are missing, see claiming deductions without receipts for what the ATO will and won't accept.