Private ruling: Rent deduction for work related home office expenses
Date of advice: 12 November 2018
Published: February 2019
Ruling period: 1 January 20XX to 30 June 20XX | Year Ended 30 June 20XX | Year Ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: XX February 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Can I claim a portion of my residential rent as a home office deduction? | A1: Yes. It is accepted that you can claim a portion of your residential rent as a home office deduction as you meet the requirements in Taxation Ruling TR 93/30. Further information can also be found by searching ‘QC33864’ on ato.gov.au.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a self-employed medical professional. You reside in a rented two bedroom apartment, with one of the bedrooms used solely as a home office. Your annual rent is $XXX for a total area of XX square metres, of which the second bedroom is XX square metres. You have contracts with a number of hospitals and clinics to provide anaesthesia services to patients. You spent approximately 90% of your time at work travelling to and attending patients at hospitals but the remaining 10% is spent working from your home office. On average you consult with X clients per day over the phone from your home office for perioperative consultation and post-operative follow up on a dedicated mobile phone. You also make X calls daily to medical administrative staff from a phone landline present in the home office, and used only for this purpose, and for back up in case of mobile phone failure. These calls are made from the second bedroom of your residential home which is set up and used solely as a home office. Your home office contains a desk, computer, chair, printer, scanner, patient records and a bookshelf for stationery. There is no provision available other than your home office for appropriate space for confidential telephone calls with patients and storage of their confidential medical records.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 8-1