The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that a new temporary home office tax credit may be claimable by qualifying individuals who worked from home during 2020.
Taxpayers are eligible to use this new method if they worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to the pandemic. The available claim is $2 for each day of working from home, and the maximum amount claimable using the new temporary flat rate method is $400 (200 working days) per individual.
Taxpayers who wish to claim home office expenses for 2020 using the detailed method used in previous years will still be able to do so, with the flat rate method providing a simpler alternate choice. More information on the alternative flat rate method can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-229-other-employment-expenses/work-space-home-expenses/what-changes.html.