Source
r/cantax•
rolledpaper

Claiming home repairs when working from home

I am currently working from and have been for 6+ months already. My wife also works from home ( and has worked from home for the past 3 years)

Recently my furnace stopped working and I had to call a repair person to come out and get it fixed.

I want to see if I can claim a portion of the furnace repairs but the thing is the only receipt I got was an email from moneris stating the amount that I paid. Is that enough information or is more required on the receipt for me to claim a portion of the repairs.

Thanks

Posted Nov 14, 2020, 12:02 AM UTC

18
FiRe_McFiReSomeDay•

Short answer: nope.

Operational costs as a % of the square foot of your office space, versus the rest of your house. Capital costs, renos, etc. are out. No, you can't claim your kitchen as part of your office, nor the bathroom(s).

So, a 10x10 office in a 2000 sqft home will get you 5% of your hydro and fuel-heating.

Edit:

https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tips/rules-for-home-offices-6100

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-4-businesses/series-4-businesses-folio-2-deducting-business-expenses/income-tax-folio-s4-f2-c2-business-use-home-expenses.html

3
rolledpaperOP•

Looking at the link for s4-f2-c2 "Deductibility of maintenance costs or minor repairs"

section 2.28 "... maintenance or minor repairs that relate to the work space as well as other areas of the home - for example, regular maintenance or minor repairs to the home furnace or air-conditioner ..."

I would have thought that I can claim a portion of the repairs.

2
jazzcop•

If you are an employee working from home then s4-f2-c2 doesn't apply to you. See the 2nd paragraph of the summary you posted and it links to the proper guide for employees working from home.

6
FiRe_McFiReSomeDay•

You may have have something there. I'll read that carefully.

1
ether_reddit•

the only receipt I got was an email from moneris stating the amount that I paid.

Your repair person is cheating on their taxes (probably income and HST/GST both).

2
Hotfishy•

Repair & maint of the house draws a lot of attention from CRA. Sure you can claim it, but it draws unwanted attention.

2
FelixYYZ•

If you are an employed WFH, and your employer has provided you a T2200, you should be able to expense the pro-rated amount of the furnace repair (since it's maintenance) based on the sqft of the dedicated home office vs the Toal sqft of the house. ( ie: dedicated office space is 5%, then 5% of the invoice). And yes you need an actual receipt.

Folio for WFH: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/it352r2/archived-employees-expenses-including-work-space-home-expenses.html

The form you will fill out: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t777.html

1
non-nominato•

Regarding the receipt, in case of an audit, that will not be enough. Why don't you ask the guy to send you a proper invoice, or maybe give you a breakdown of the total including how much was the GST (if he is a GST registrant) and what is his GST number. You should then be covered.

Regarding the expense, yes you can deduct a portion of the expense. Are you and employee or are you self-employed?

0