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30 Oct 2025

I pay rent and have a dedicated home office. My company does not have an office in Perth or anywhere else in Australia, so I work exclusively from this home office 100% of the time. According to the ATO website, am I eligible to claim a portion of my rent (for example, 10%) as a home office occupancy deduction? but when i put 10% of rent like 3562- i get a warning

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ATO Certified Response
RachelATO(Community Moderator)Community Moderator
ATO Certified Response3 Nov 2025

Hi @pheonix7860,


To be able to claim a portion of your rent as a home office occupancy expense, you need to meet specific criteria. Your home office must be:


  • a dedicated and exclusive work area, not just a space used occasionally or shared with others
  • clearly identifiable as a place of business, such as having signage, clients visiting, or being listed publicly as your business address
  • used exclusively for work purposes, with no private use.

If you're an employee working from home (not running a business), it's generally not enough to just work from home full-time, even if your employer doesn’t have a physical office.

Employees usually can't claim rent as an occupancy expense, even if they work from home 100% of the time, unless their home office is considered a place of business under tax law.


The warning you received when entering 10% of your rent likely relates to this restriction. Our systems may flag occupancy expense claims from employees as potentially incorrect unless you meet the strict criteria.


You can claim running expenses like electricity, internet, and depreciation of office furniture using the actual cost method or the fixed rate method. 


If you want a definitive answer regarding your specific situation, you can lodge a private ruling and ask if you can claim the occupancy expenses.

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