Work From Home
 
With the transition to working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many questions have come up regarding eligibility for home office deductions that employees may be able to claim on their 2020 tax return and whether your employer will be issuing T2200/T2200S forms.
 
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently announced a temporary simplified method that will allow employees who worked at home due to COVID-19 more than 50 percent of the time for at least four consecutive weeks during the pandemic, to claim an amount of $2 per working day (up to a maximum deduction of $400). This simplified method does not require you to obtain a T2200/T2200S form or maintain documented receipts to validate your claim.
 
  • Working days include any day during which an employee performs work, at their home, for the employer. There are no minimum hours attached to this, both full-time and part-time employees may count any day on which they performed work for the employer.
  • Non-working days such as weekends, statutory holidays, vacation or sick days are not counted.
 
For most employees, this simplified method will provide the maximum deduction allowed without the detailed record-keeping normally required for home office deduction claims.