Free tool · Canada · Rules from the Canada Revenue Agency
Enter the size of your home office, the size of your home, and the household expenses you paid, and see the deductible work-space share of each expense under the Canada Revenue Agency's detailed method. This is an estimate only. It is not tax advice, and the CRA decides what you can actually claim when you file your return.
The area of the room or space you use for work. Measure it once and write the number down.
The finished area of the whole home, including hallways, bathrooms, and the kitchen. Your work-space percentage is the office area divided by this number.
Leave this at 168 if the space is used only for work. If the space is shared with personal use, such as a dining room table, enter the hours per week you use it for work, out of 168 hours in a week, and the CRA method applies that share as well.
What you can claim depends on this. Salaried employees cannot claim mortgage interest, property taxes, or home insurance. Commission employees can also claim property taxes and home insurance. Self-employed people claim on Form T2125 and can include a share of mortgage interest, property taxes, and home insurance.
Rent for the home where you live. Enter 0 if you own your home.
Your electricity, heat, and water bills for the year, plus the utilities part of condo fees and your home internet access fees.
Cleaning supplies, light bulbs, paint, and other minor repairs. Capital costs, such as new windows, a furnace, or flooring, are not claimable.
Interest only, not principal. Only self-employed people can claim a share of mortgage interest. No employee can claim it.
Only commission employees and self-employed people can claim a share of property taxes. Salaried employees cannot.
Only commission employees and self-employed people can claim a share of home insurance. Salaried employees cannot.
The estimate multiplies each eligible expense by your work-space percentage, and by your work-hours share if the space is shared. Read the guide, then check the CRA's own pages before you file. Keep your receipts and, if you are an employee, your employer's signed Form T2200.
Work-space percentage. Your work-space percentage is your office area divided by the total finished area of your home. With the default numbers, 120 square feet out of 1,200 is 10%.
Shared spaces. If the space is also used personally, the CRA method multiplies by the hours you use it for work out of 168 hours in a week. A room used only for work is counted at 168 hours, so no hours adjustment applies.
What salaried employees can claim. The work-use share of electricity, heat, and water, the utilities part of condo fees, home internet access fees, maintenance and minor repairs, and rent. Salaried employees cannot claim mortgage interest or principal, property taxes, home insurance, capital cost allowance, internet connection fees, furniture, or capital costs.
What commission employees can also claim. Everything salaried employees can claim, plus the work-use share of home insurance and property taxes, and the lease of a cell phone, computer, laptop, or tablet used to earn commission income.
What self-employed people can claim. The business-use share of rent or mortgage interest, property taxes, home insurance, utilities, internet, and maintenance, claimed on Form T2125. The claim cannot create or increase a business loss.
The flat rate method is gone. The temporary flat rate method of $2 per day worked from home, up to $400 for 2020 and $500 for 2021 and 2022, applied only to the 2020, 2021, and 2022 tax years. It does not apply to 2023 or later years. For 2026, employees must use the detailed method with actual expenses, receipts, and a signed Form T2200, and claim on Form T777, with the total on line 22900 of the return.
What this calculator leaves out. Office supplies and phone expenses are claimed separately from work-space expenses and are not in this calculation. Expenses your employer reimbursed are not claimable. Quebec employees also need Revenu Québec's Form TP-64.3-V for the provincial return.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, Form T777, Statement of Employment Expenses (Canada.ca), opened at build time, which lists the work-space-in-the-home expense lines and the CRA's worked example. The flat rate end date and the employee eligibility conditions are as stated on the CRA's home office expenses for employees page. No figure on this page comes from anywhere else. Where a figure could not be verified on an opened official page, this page says to check the official page instead of stating it.
Next step: read the full step-by-step guide: How to Start Filing Taxes as a Freelancer in Canada