In 2020, 2021 and 2022, many people worked from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were two temporary simplified methods for the employment expense deduction.
Option 1: Temporary flat rate method
This is a per $2 diem allowance up to a $400 ceiling for 2020. After 2020, the ceiling is $500.
Requirements:
- Worked more than 50% of the time from home for four consecutive weeks or more in the year due to COVID-19
- Had home office expenses and no other employment expenses, and
- Received no reimbursement for home office expenses
The CRA provides an online calculator that will do the calculations and no documentation is required.
Option 2: Detailed method
This allows the deduction of actual expenses incurred. On Form T777S, working-from-home expenses fall into three basic types:
- Office supplies
- Other expenses
- Workspace-in-the-home expense
- Supporting documents must be kept
Other requirements:
- You worked:
- More than 50% of the time from home for four consecutive weeks or more in the year due to COVID-19, or
- In a dedicated workspace in the home regularly and continually for work-related meetings
- Paid for home office expenses as an employer’s requirement
- Incurred the expenses directly for work purposes
- Obtain a signed T2200 or T2200S
Eligible and ineligible expenses can be reviewed here: Detailed method. TurboTax will automatically do your calculations for either option, based on the answers you provide in the EasyStep questionnaire.
