ATO targeting home office expense deductions

The Australian Tax Office is targeting home office expense deductions – what does this mean for you?

The ATO is increasing its attention, scrutiny and education around deductions for home office expenses and may contact a taxpayer’s employer to verify the claimed expenses.

The ATO says a significant issue is a taxpayer claiming the entire amount of internet or mobile phone expenses, rather than only the work-related portion. This year, the ATO will focus particularly on record-keeping, and expects to disallow a lot of claims where the taxpayer has not kept records to prove that they legitimately incurred the expense and that the expense was related to their work.