Employees Working At Home Due to COVID-19

Since the pandemic began in mid-March 2020, public
health officials have asked Canadians to stay at home to
help minimize the spread of COVID-19. As a result, an unprecedented number of employees have been asked to work
at home.
Employees who worked at home in 2020 due to COVID19 and meet certain conditions, will be eligible to deduct
home office expenses (work-space-in-the-home expenses,
office supplies, & expenses such as employment use of a
cell phone, long distance calls for employment purposes,
etc.).
Who is eligible?
You are eligible to deduct home office expenses you paid if
you meet the following conditions:
 you worked more than 50% of the time from home for a
period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to
COVID-19
 the expenses were directly related to your work
However, you cannot deduct home office expenses if all of
your expenses were or will be reimbursed by your employer.
You will find below examples of eligible and non-eligible
home office expenses. Additional home office expenses you
may be able to deduct can be found on the CRA website.
Eligible expenses
Eligible expenses include:
 rent paid for a house or apartment where you live
 electricity, heat, water or the utilities portion of your condominium fees
 home internet access fees
 maintenance (minor repairs, cleaning supplies, light bulbs,
paint, etc.)
 supplies (stationery items, pens, folders, sticky notes, postage, toner, ink cartridge, etc.)
 employment use of a basic cell phone service plan
 long distance calls for employment purposes
Non-eligible expenses
You cannot claim any of the following:
 capital cost allowance
 mortgage interest
 principal mortgage payments
 home internet connection fees or the portion of fees related to the lease of a modem/router
 capital expenses (windows, flooring, furnace, etc.)
 office equipment (printer, fax machine, briefcase, laptop
case, or bag, calculator, etc.)
 monthly basic rate for a landline telephone
 cell phone connection, or license fees
 purchase of a cell phone, computer, laptop, tablet, fax machine, etc.
 computer accessories, (monitor, mouse, keyboard headset,
microphone, speakers, webcam, router, etc.)
 other electronics (TV, smart speaker, voice assistant, etc.)
 furniture (desk, chair, etc.)
There are two options available to calculate your home office expenses:
Option 1 – Temporary flat rate method
Option 2 – Detailed method
Option 1 – Temporary flat rate method
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a temporary flat rate method to calculate your home office expenses for 2020 for employees who worked from home in
2020 due to COVID-19 and paid home office expenses for
which they were not reimbursed. If you use this method,
your employer is not required to complete Form T2200S,
Declaration of Conditions of Employment for Working at
Home Due to COVID-19 or Form T2200, Declaration of
Conditions of Employment, and you are not required to keep
documents to support your claim. If you do not use this
method, you must have your employer complete
Form T2200S or Form T2200 and you must keep your supporting documents.
If you are eligible, you can claim $2 for each day that
you worked at home during the four week period plus any
other days you worked at home in 2020 due to COVID-19,
up to a maximum of $400. Enter the amount of your claim
on line 9939 of Form T777S as well as line 22900 of your
tax return.
Option 2 – Detailed method
If you choose to use the detailed method to calculate your
home office expenses, you must meet all of the following
conditions:
 You worked more than 50% of the time from home for a
period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to
COVID-19.
 You have a completed and signed Form T2200S, Declaration of Conditions of Employment for Working at Home
Due to COVID-19, or Form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment from your employer.
 You kept all your supporting documents in case the CRA
asks to see them later.
Note: You cannot claim any expenses that were or will be
reimbursed by your employer.
Reprinted from Canada Revenue Agency website—for more
information visit https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency.html