I'm looking to purchase a home office pod for my garden as I have no space in my house for home working.
I'm a regular salaried employee who works from home 3 days a week.
Would the cost of building the pod be a deductible expense?
Hi @ukaus2019
We've looked into this and from the facts provided as a salaried employee WFH 3 days a week, you won't be able to claim the purchase of the pod.
Deductions for the pod would fall under either decline in value or capital works. To claim under home office expenses, you'd need to be entitled to occupancy expenses which employees generally aren't. In saying that there is an exception. Where the area of the home can be characterised as a ‘place of business’ under TR 93-30 then there can be an entitlement to claim occupancy expenses.
Another thing to be mindful of is if you can claim occupancy expenses you might have capital gains tax obligations when you sell. Just ensure you keep all the right records to work out your deductions or CGT.
Looks like a structure, but maybe a depn asset if it is easy to demount and move around.
Need an ATO opinion on that.
Hello @ukaus2019
We'll check this out
Hi @ukaus2019
We've looked into this and from the facts provided as a salaried employee WFH 3 days a week, you won't be able to claim the purchase of the pod.
Deductions for the pod would fall under either decline in value or capital works. To claim under home office expenses, you'd need to be entitled to occupancy expenses which employees generally aren't. In saying that there is an exception. Where the area of the home can be characterised as a ‘place of business’ under TR 93-30 then there can be an entitlement to claim occupancy expenses.
Another thing to be mindful of is if you can claim occupancy expenses you might have capital gains tax obligations when you sell. Just ensure you keep all the right records to work out your deductions or CGT.
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