My husband and I both have received a T2200 from our employer. We each have a designated work space - do our expenses get submitted for each of us, or is it split?

[pmollins77]

Do our total water/heat/electricity amounts get split in two? or do we enter the total amount each since we are both using 1 of the 11 rooms of our house (2 rooms total) to perform our work duties?

[TurboTaxBrenda]

If you are both working from home and use different rooms to work- yes you will split the cost of the water/heat and electricity.

Please review the CRA expenses you can claim.

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[pmollins77]

Thank you - we both work from home for the same employer (in separate designated work spaces) and both received a T2200. 

[TurboTaxBrenda]

As per the CRA: If you and your spouse both worked from home

If you both meet the eligibility criteria, you must decide which expenses each of you will claim. Each expense can be claimed only once.

In order to determine the amount you can deduct, you have to first determine the eligible home office expenses you can claim and then calculate the total employment-use amount of those expenses.

Please read this carefully to know exactly what can be claimed and how much. 

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[wei2019]

According to CRA:

If you both meet the eligibility criteria, you must decide which expenses each of you will claim. Each expense can be claimed only once.

I under stand the “office only” expenses can be only claimed once. How about entire house expenses, like cleaning and small repairs of air conditioner? I think it will make sense both claims them (with the separate designated work space). Please confirm. Thanks 

[TurboTaxBrenda]

As per the CRA: Maintenance and minor repair costs
The maintenance and minor repair costs generally fall into one of the following categories:

• Expenses you paid that relate to the work space as well as other areas of the home. You can claim the percentage of those expenses that relate to the work space.
  • Example: Minor repairs of the home furnace or air-conditioner or the purchase of household cleaning products.
• Expenses related to the work space only. You can claim the total amount of the expenses if the amount paid is reasonable.
  • Example: Purchase of light bulbs, repainting the work space, or repairing walls or ceilings after the installation of phones, fax machines or other office equipment you used in the work space.
• Expenses related to a part of the house that you did not use as a work space. You cannot claim any part of those expenses.
  • Example: Repainting a bedroom that is not used for work.

Rent paid for a house or apartment where you live

• If you rent your home, you can claim a reasonable portion of the rent related to the work space.
• If you own your home, you cannot claim the rental value of the work space in your home.

[Scrappy67]

I have a related question or really clarification please.

as stated with the rpevious members question we are in the same situtation so do we split the costs for each expense or only claim for say myself?

I want to clarify as my wife also has a seperate office space that i am not sure if this will be taken into account if I only claim the expenses like internet, hydro etc.

I appreciate advice on how to complete?

Cheers

[TurboTaxSusan]

@Scrappy67 

As Brenda said above, if you both meet the eligibility criteria, you must decide which expenses each of you will claim. Each expense can be claimed only once.

That having been said, if it is more beneficial for only one of you to claim work from home expenses, then you can do that as well. 

The expenses you enter for the entire home will be prorated based on the size of the workspace and how much time you spent working there.

[Its_trbo_time]

Ok so we agree that we can either split the costs or claim the total for only one person.

What about the size of the workspace if we're claiming for one person? If we work in separate workspaces, used only for employment, should we sum up the total area?

I'm guessing yes because if we don't sum up, then we are basically skipping the claim for one person.

[TurboTaxSusan]

@Its_trbo_time If you are only claiming the expenses for one person, then it would be based on their workspace.