Working From Home & Claiming Expenses

[bambino]

:wave:

I am lucky enough to be able to work from home for my employer. Currently I do 3 mornings at home and 2 full days in the office.

While working from home, I am able to claim expenses such as fax calls, phone calls, stationery (pens, printer paper, printer ink etc...) but I was wondering if and how can I claim my internet usage.

I have to access the internet each morning to
download all the info I need for that mornings work.
So do I calculate it on a monthly usage, time on the internet etc ??

And by doing this, most months we reach our monthly download limit so our ADSL slows down to dial-up speed.
Should I increase my download limit and also claim this expense ?

I invoice them on a monthly basis too and I am sure there is more I can claim but my mind is boggling at the moment.

Any help would be great.

[cromeo]

I usually just allocate a percentage of the total internet bill for the time I'm doing work from home.

ie, If out of the whole time I use the internet, I use it for work 40% of the time, I would then claim for 40% of my total bill for the month.

Hope that makes sense.

[bambino]

I'm only on the internet for 1.5 hours per day for 3 days per week = 4.5 hours per week = 18 hours per month.

Our montly internet bill is $75 flat rate.

So what should I bill them for (I was never good at maths and %-ages) per month.

[sam's mum]

If you are talking about claiming from your employer, then you need to ask them what they are willing to have you claim for.

If you are talking about claiming as a deduction for income tax, then you need to have a reasonable substantion. eg diary entries of usage for a period of time to establish the percentage that you are using.

[missie_mack]

Yes we claim the percentage that we use. However as we are capped (ie meaning we pay the same every month regardless) it is much easier. If you use a room seperate to the rest of your family while you do your work at home you might also be able to claim part of your electricity bill.

If in doubt I would suggest that you contact the taxation office. They should be able to help and they have the most up to date information