Working from home? Canadians may get a $400 Tax Deduction

In early December 2020 in a proposal announced by the Federal Government the CRA would allow employees working from home due to Covid-19 to claim up to $400 in modest expenses without questions.

For many of us, working from home has become the norm and it is likely to stay that way for a while if not become a permanent reality.  For many us it means working on the kitchen table, in the dining room or wherever you can set up office space, but wherever it is there is a good chance that your bills have increased.  For those people who usually work from home in their home office, deducting home expenses on their tax return is the norm, but with so many more people working in their spare room or basement the federal government is looking at ways to simplify the process of claiming expenses.

Currently salaried employees who work more than 50% of the time from home are currently eligible to deduct part of the expenses related to their workspace such as electricity, heating and maintenance as a work-space-in-the-home-expense.  

The proposal that the CRA would allow a $400 claim for modest expenses was In the government's Fall Economic Statement for 2020 released November 30th, and would help taxpayers to access the deductions they are entitled to receive while simplifying the tax filing process. It means that employees can generally avoid the T2200 form that their employer would normally complete to tell the CRA that the employee has incurred mandatory expenses while working from home.  

More information on this proposal is expected in the coming weeks.

From an article by Stefan Labbe