Work From Home Tax Deduction Calculator (2025-26 and 2026-27)
This work from home tax deduction calculator multiplies your hours at home by the ATO's fixed rate of 70 cents an hour for 2025-26, or totals your actual costs. Two days a week for 46 weeks is 699.2 hours, a $489.44 deduction. For 2026-27 it uses 70c (2025-26 rate) provisionally, because the ATO hasn't stated a 2026-27 rate.
The link carries the numbers you entered, so anyone who opens it sees the same result.
Working from home deduction
$489.44
Breakdown
| Hours worked from home | 699.2 |
|---|---|
| Running costs at 70c (2025-26 rate) | $489.44 |
| Deduction | $489.44 |
| Claim on your return, cents dropped | $489 |
| Estimated tax and Medicare levy saved | $156.48 |
- Hours worked from home
- 699.2 hours
- Fixed rate
- 70c (2025-26 rate)
- Claim on your return, cents dropped
- $489
- Estimated tax saved
- $156.48
- Records to keep
- Your actual hours, and one bill for each running cost
The 70c fixed rate: what it already covers
The ATO's fixed rate method page (opens in a new tab) gives 70 cents for every hour you work from home in 2024-25 and 2025-26. It was 67 cents for 2022-23 and 2023-24. To use it, you must have extra running costs from working at home.
The rate covers those running costs:
- Electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting.
- Mobile and home phone use, and home and mobile internet or data.
- Stationery and computer consumables such as printer ink and paper.
You can't claim those costs again on top. That includes work calls on your mobile on the days you're in the office, which the rate already covers. Equipment, furniture and their repairs sit outside the rate, and you claim them separately.
| Days a week at home (7.6 hours, 46 weeks) | Hours | Deduction, 2025-26 | On your return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 349.6 | $244.72 | $244 |
| 2 | 699.2 | $489.44 | $489 |
| 3 | 1,048.8 | $734.16 | $734 |
| 5 | 1,748.0 | $1,223.60 | $1,223 |
Getting your hours right
Use the weeks you actually worked from home, not 52. Entering 52 weeks at 2 days a week gives 790.4 hours and $553.28, which is $63.84 more than 46 weeks would support.
Hybrid workers often add hours outside office days. An hour on 3 office-day evenings for 46 weeks adds 138 hours and $96.60, for a total of $586.04. Those hours only count if they're genuine work and appear in your record.
At the old 67 cent rate, 699.2 hours would have given $468.46.
What you save depends on your income, and the marginal tax rate calculator shows the rate on your next dollar. On lower incomes, the same claim also lifts your low income tax offset.
| Taxable income, 2025-26 | Tax saved on a $489 claim |
|---|---|
| $40,000 | $112.47 |
| $85,000 | $156.48 |
| $150,000 | $190.71 |
| $210,000 | $229.83 |
2026-27: a provisional rate and the standard deduction
The 2026-27 rate is provisional. The ATO states 70 cents for 2024-25 and 2025-26 only, and hasn't stated a 2026-27 rate. The calculator uses 70c (2025-26 rate), the latest stated, and we'll change it if the ATO publishes something different.
The new standard deduction also starts in 2026-27, and it changes what a claim is worth. You get up to $1,000 for work-related expenses with no records, and the ATO's standard deduction page (opens in a new tab) counts working from home costs against it, dollar for dollar.
So a claim under $1,000 saves you nothing extra. Only the part of your work claims above $1,000 adds to your deductions, and then you need written evidence for all of them.
| Days a week at home, 2026-27 | Deduction at 70c (2025-26 rate) | Standard deduction left | Extra tax saved on $85,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $244.72 | $756 | $0.00 |
| 2 | $489.44 | $511 | $0.00 |
| 3 | $734.16 | $266 | $0.00 |
| 5 | $1,223.60 | $0 | $71.36 |
Other work claims count towards the same $1,000, so enter them under More options. They can push a smaller home office claim over the line.
Records you need for either method
What to keep
Fixed rate
- Your hours
- The actual hours for the whole year, in a timesheet, roster or diary kept as you go
- Your costs
- At least one record for each running cost the rate covers, such as one quarterly electricity bill
- Your working
- Not needed beyond the hours
Actual cost
- Your hours
- Your actual hours, or a continuous 4-week diary of your usual pattern
- Your costs
- Receipts and bills for every cost
- Your working
- How you worked out the work share
The ATO won't accept an estimate of hours for the fixed rate. If you only start a record partway through the year, you can only claim the hours you recorded.
The ATO's records you need to keep (opens in a new tab) page says to hold them for 5 years from the date you lodge your tax return. For equipment you're depreciating, it's 5 years from your last claim for its decline in value.
Sharing a home
The tests apply to each person separately, so each of you needs your own record of hours and your own running costs. A housemate whose bills are all paid by others doesn't meet the rule that you have extra running costs yourself.
The ATO's fixed rate page doesn't deal with shared bills directly. If the bills are in one person's name, ask a registered tax agent.
Equipment and furniture over $300
Equipment that costs more than $300, on its own or as part of a set, is claimed over several years as it declines in value. Items at or below that amount can be claimed in full in the year you buy them, if you use them mainly to earn non-business income. The rule is on the ATO's tools and equipment page (opens in a new tab).
A desk, office chair, monitor or laptop is claimed by work-use percentage, so a laptop used 60% for work gives 60% of its decline in value each year. Repairs to work equipment are a separate deduction under either method.
| Step | Amount | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| 699.2 hours at 70cFixed rate | +$489.44 | $489.44 |
| Office chair$300 or less, work use only | +$299.00 | $788.44 |
| Desk$300 or less, work use only | +$250.00 | $1,038.44 |
| Deduction, 2025-26 | $1,038.44 | |
| On your return, cents dropped | $1,038 | |
Worked example for 2025-26, based on an ATO example. Source: ATO.
From 2026-27, equipment you claim also reduces the standard deduction.
What the home office estimate leaves out
This calculator works out the deduction and an estimate of tax saved for a resident individual with no HELP debt. It doesn't:
- Check whether your hours qualify.
- Model occupancy costs such as rent or mortgage interest.
- Work out the effective life of each equipment item, so you enter the amount for this year.
- Test your labour income, which it treats as your taxable income when it sets the standard deduction.
The rest of the claim rules, and the standard deduction in full, are covered under tax deductions. To see how your claim changes the final result, use the tax return calculator.
How do you calculate working from home expenses?
Multiply the hours you worked from home by the fixed rate, or add up your actual extra costs. Count only home hours, not office days. For 2025-26, 2 days a week at 7.6 hours a day for 46 weeks is 699.2 hours at 70 cents, or $489.44.
How do you claim work from home expenses?
Enter the amount as a work-related expense in myTax, with the cents dropped, or give it to your registered tax agent with the method you used. Keep your record of hours and one record for each running cost. For 2025-26, a $489 claim saves $156.48 for someone on $85,000.
Can you deduct rent if you work from home?
Usually no. The ATO says you may be able to claim occupancy costs such as rent or mortgage interest only in limited circumstances, where you have a dedicated home office. In a shared home, each person who works there and has running costs can claim for their own hours.
How much tax deduction for working from home?
The deduction is 70 cents per hour worked from home for 2025-26, and the saving depends on your marginal rate. A $489 claim saves $112.47 at $40,000 and $229.83 at $210,000. For 2026-27 the rate is provisional, and a total work claim under $1,000 adds nothing to the standard deduction.
Estimates only, based on published 2025-26 rates and 2026-27 rates where you choose that year, with a provisional 2026-27 fixed rate. General information, not tax or financial advice.
Keep going
Sources
- ATO: Working from home fixed rate method (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Standard deduction for work-related expenses (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Records you need to keep (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Tools and equipment to perform your work (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents (opens in a new tab)