Employment Expenses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

You may be eligible to claim certain expenses incurred because of your employment. These are expenses that you wouldn't otherwise have had to cover in relation to your work. This can also apply to self-employed individuals, but our focus here is on employment expenses.

Common employment expenses include:

• Rent paid
• Electricity and other utilities, or portions of condo fees
• Maintenance
• Home internet fees
• Office supplies
• Long distance calls (if made on behalf of your employ or for business purposes)
• Use of a basic mobile phone plan

Those who earn commission as part of their income may also claim:

• Property taxes
• Home insurance
• Lease of electronic equipment (mobile phone, computer, laptop, tablet, fax machine, etc.) that relates to earning income

Salaried and commissioned employees who worked from home (50% or more of the time for at least 4 consecutive weeks) due to COVID-19 are eligible to claim employment expenses from working at home on their 2020, 2021 or 2022 tax return.

For more information, visit the Home office expenses for employees page on the CRA website.

To claim employment expenses related to COVID-19, you'll need to file a T777S Statement of Employment Expenses for Working at Home Due to COVID-19  (or T777 if you are claiming other employment expenses in addition to home office expenses) with your return. TurboTax guides you through this.

If you claim for employment expenses over $500 using the Detailed method, you'll also need to complete a T2200-s Declaration of Conditions of Employment for Working at Home Due to COVID-19. The T2200-s form must be completed, signed, and approved by your employer. You keep this form with your records, you don't file it with the CRA.

Eligible salaried and commissioned employees who live in Québec should complete the TP-59.S-V form to claim their employment expenses.

Eligible employees may claim a flat rate of $2 for each day for the number of days they worked from home in 2020, 2021 or 2022 due to COVID-19 (up to a maximum of $400 for 2020 and $500 for 2021 or 2022). You don’t need supporting documents to claim the flat rate.

If you want to claim over $500 using the Detailed method, the CRA has provided a calculator to help calculate and fill out these expenses on your form. For more information, read the Calculate your expenses page on the CRA website.