Work From Home Tax Deduction Calculator for FY2025-26
Estimate your work-from-home deduction in seconds using the ATO fixed-rate method at 70 cents per hour. Built for Australian PAYG employees and sole traders who want a defensible number on their tax return — not a guess that flags an audit.
About this calculator
The ATO fixed-rate method lets you claim 70 cents for every hour you genuinely work from home in FY2025-26. That single rate bundles together the running costs most employees would otherwise itemise — electricity and gas for heating, cooling and lighting your work area, the work portion of your home internet and mobile phone, stationery, and computer consumables like printer ink and paper. You multiply your weekly work-from-home hours by the number of weeks you worked from home in the financial year, then by 0.70. The calculator does the maths and tells you the exact figure to enter on your return.
The fixed rate is not a top-up. If you claim 70c per hour, you cannot also separately claim a portion of your electricity bill, your internet plan, your phone bill or your stationery — those are already inside the rate. You also cannot claim coffee, snacks, general furniture, or the cost of a dedicated home office room itself. Asset depreciation on items over $300 (a desk, monitor, ergonomic chair) sits outside the fixed rate and can be claimed separately. If your actual running costs are clearly higher than 70c per hour, the actual cost method may give you a bigger deduction — but it requires receipts and apportioned bills for everything.
Records are where most WFH claims fall apart in an ATO review. Under the fixed-rate method you must keep a record of the actual hours you worked from home — a diary, timesheet, roster, or time-tracking export is fine. The ATO prefers a record covering the whole income year. A four-week representative diary is acceptable only if your work-from-home pattern was genuinely stable across the year. You also need at least one bill (electricity, internet, phone) showing the costs the rate covers were actually incurred. Estimates and round numbers like '20 hours every week' without supporting evidence are the single biggest reason WFH claims get reduced on review.
How to use
- 1Enter the number of hours you typically work from home each week, including any partial days
- 2Enter the number of weeks you actually worked from home this financial year, excluding annual leave and public holidays
- 3The calculator multiplies hours x weeks x $0.70 to give your annual fixed-rate deduction
- 4Save or screenshot the result and keep your hours diary or timesheet alongside one running-cost bill
- 5Enter the figure at item D5 (Other work-related expenses) on your tax return
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Frequently asked questions
What's the WFH rate for FY2025-26?
The ATO fixed rate for working from home in FY2025-26 is 70 cents per hour, up from 67 cents in FY2023-24. It applies to every hour you genuinely worked from home and bundles electricity, gas, internet, mobile phone, stationery and computer consumables into one figure. You multiply hours by 0.70 — for example, 20 hours per week across 46 weeks gives a deduction of $644. The rate covers running costs only, not depreciation on big-ticket items like desks or monitors.
Can I also claim my electricity bill and internet on top of 70c per hour?
No. The 70 cent fixed rate already includes electricity, gas, home internet, the work portion of your mobile phone, stationery and computer consumables. Claiming any of those separately on top of the rate is double-dipping and the ATO will adjust your return on review. You can still separately claim depreciation on assets over $300 (desk, monitor, ergonomic chair) and the work-related portion of any item that isn't bundled into the rate, like specialist software subscriptions.
Do I need a dedicated home office to claim the fixed rate?
No. The ATO removed the dedicated work area requirement when it introduced the revised fixed-rate method. You can claim 70c per hour even if you work from the kitchen table, a couch, or a shared space — as long as you were genuinely performing employment duties during those hours. What you do need is evidence of the hours, such as a diary or timesheet, and at least one bill (electricity, internet or phone) showing those running costs were incurred at your home during the year.
What records do I need to keep for the ATO?
You need a record of the actual hours you worked from home — a diary, roster, timesheet, calendar export or payroll record. The ATO prefers a record covering the entire income year. A four-week representative diary is acceptable only if your work-from-home pattern was genuinely consistent across the year. You also need at least one bill showing you incurred a running cost the rate covers, such as an electricity, gas, internet or mobile phone account in your name at the work-from-home address.
Fixed rate or actual cost method — which gives me a bigger refund?
The fixed rate is simpler but caps your claim at 70c per hour. The actual cost method can give a bigger deduction if you have high running costs and a dedicated work area, because you apportion each bill (electricity, internet, phone, depreciation) by work-related percentage and floor area. Actual cost requires receipts, apportioned bills and a four-week diary of work use. As a rule of thumb, actual cost wins for full-time remote workers in larger homes; fixed rate wins for hybrid workers and most PAYG employees.
Authoritative sources
All rates and thresholds used in this calculator are sourced from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Want a full refund estimate?
Our main refund calculator combines all these rules — enter your salary and deductions for a full annual refund estimate.
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