Home Based Office – Tax Tip
Posted On: 03/03/21 - 0

home based office

Did You Operate A Home Based Office During 2020 Due to Covid?

Thousands of Alberta employees, just like you had to pivot to working from a home based office in order to protect themselves and their colleagues from Covid.

Now that we are in the throws of tax season, you should be informed on what you may be able to claim as an expense on your personal tax return.

You May Be Eligible To Claim The Home Office Deduction

Firstly, If you worked from home more than 50% of the time over a period of a least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to COVID-19 you will now be eligible.  You will now be able to claim the home office expenses deduction. The use of a shorter qualifying period will ensure that more employees can claim the deduction than would otherwise have been possible under longstanding practice.

There is a New Temporary Flat Rate Method

The new temporary flat rate method simplifies your claim for home  based office expense. You are able to use this new method if you worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at 4 four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to the pandemic. You can claim $2 for each day you worked from home during that period plus any additional days you worked at home in 2020.  As long as this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum you can claim using the new temporary flat rate method is $400 per individual.

For more details, you can click here to go the the CRA website .  This is very detailed information on how the claim works.

If you still haven’t had your tax return processed, give our office a call at 780-482-7297.  Ask for Cheryl.

We guarantee our work, we are efficient and competitively priced.  Don’t forget to ask us about our draws for 2 keg gift certificates this tax season.

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Edmonton, Alberta.
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780.482.7297