January 5, 2021

To: All Members
From : Ian Crewe, Assistant Executive Director
Re: Home Office Expenses as Income Tax Deductions in 2020 due to COVID-19

The details below are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute general or individual financial/taxation advice. 

In general, while employees required to work from home have always been able to claim home office expenses on their income tax return, the Federal Government has recently announced certain changes that will make this process easier for those employees who experienced a shift to working from home in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, as now proposed by the Federal Government, employees who worked from home (including teachers) will be able to use the new rules to claim this deduction for the 2020 income tax year.

A teacher is eligible to claim a temporary flat rate deduction for home office expenses for the period they worked from home, if they meet all of the following eligibility criteria:
  • A teacher worked from home in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic or your employer required you to work from home. (Note: As teachers were required to work from home as a result of school closures beginning on March 17th, 2020, they do meet this eligibility requirement.)
  • A teacher worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020. (Note: Teachers also meet this requirement as schools were not reopened to teachers until June 1st, 2020.)
  • A teacher only claims home office expenses and does not claim any other employment expenses (line 22900 of your income tax return).
  • Your employer did not reimburse you for all of your home office expenses.
Eligible teachers can claim a deduction of $2.00 for each day they worked at home in 2020 due to COVID-19 up to a maximum of $400.00 (200 working days) per individual.

Using the new temporary flat rate method means that teachers do not have to calculate the size of their home work space, keep supporting documents, or get Form T2200 completed and signed by their employer.

Any day that a teacher worked full-time or part-time hours from home, counts as a workday. However, they cannot count:
  • days off
  • vacation days
  • sick leave days
  • other leave or absence days
Each individual working from home who meets the eligibility criteria can use the temporary flat rate method to calculate their deduction for home office expenses. This means multiple people working from the same home can each make a claim.

This new temporary flat rate method can only be used for the 2020 tax year.

The use of a shorter qualifying period will ensure that more employees can claim the deduction than would otherwise have been possible under the longstanding practice.
Employees with larger claims for home office expenses can still choose to use the original, more detailed method to calculate their home office expenses deduction for 2020.

NLTA members with specific questions regarding their individual circumstances, should contact a certified financial advisor or tax consultant.

For further information on Claiming Home Office Expenses under the new temporary flat rate method and the detailed method, please click here.

As always, NLTA members seeking advice/assistance on specific matters related to their individual circumstances should contact the Association via mail@nlta.nl.ca.