I currently work from home more than 50% of the time - but I'm not forced to work from home. Can I still claim employment expenses? My employer and I do have an agreement that I work from home. I come into the office three days a week for a few hours, then work from home the rest of the day and the other two days. The wording on the CRA website is confusing and I wanted to know if I'm able to claim employment expenses.
Here is the link: Home office expenses for employees - Eligibility criteria
As per the CRA: "Your employer required you to work from home
This requirement does not have to be part of your employment contract, however, it should be a written or verbal agreement.
For 2023, if an employee has voluntarily entered into a formal telework arrangement with their employer, the employee is considered to have been required to work from home."
Does this mean if we have an agreement that I WFH (I wasn't forced to WFH) I can claim some of my expenses? Thanks.
Did your employer provide you with a form T2200 Declaration of Conditions of Employment?
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My employer is able to provide that - yes. But they also wanted to make sure that I'm submitting this correctly. Again, they are not forcing me to work from home as I do have an office where I can work, but we do have an agreement that I will work from home some days.
Yes, if you have an agreement with your employer and a T2200 you can claim WFH expenses. Please see this Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) link for guidance: Eligibility criteria – Detailed method.
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You cited from the CRA website correctly - if you voluntarily entered into a remote arrangement with your employer (which is what you did), then the CRA considers you to have been required to work from home for 2023. As long as other eligibility criteria are met, you can claim employment expenses on your tax return.
Keep in mind that you don't need to submit T2200 with your tax return, but you need to have it in case the CRA wants to see it later.
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