Home Office Expenses for Salaried Physicians, Residents, and Fellows in 2022 Due to COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many medical activities that don’t necessitate in-person treatment have transitioned to remote modes, such as telephone or videoconferencing. Recognizing this shift, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) provided additional guidelines on December 15, 2020, regarding home office expense claims for employees working remotely because of the pandemic. These guidelines specifically apply to salaried physicians, residents, and fellows. It’s worth noting that the existing rules for home office deductions for self-employed and incorporated physicians remain unchanged. For the year 2022, employees who have worked from their homes for over 50% of the time during a span of at least four consecutive weeks due to COVID-19 can claim the home office expenses deduction. There are two methods available for this:
- Temporary Flat Rate Method (New)
- Employees can claim $2 for each day they worked from home for a continuous period of at least 4 weeks, plus any additional days worked from home in 2020 due to the pandemic.
- The maximum claimable amount using this method has been raised for 2021/2022 to $500 (previously $400 in 2020) for up to 250 working days (previously 200 days in 2020).
- Under this method, there’s no need to:
- Measure the workspace’s size.
- Maintain supporting documents.
- Obtain the Form T2200/T2200S signed by the employer.
- Both full-time and part-time workdays from home are countable.
- Detailed Method (Existing)
- For this method, the employer needs to complete and sign a form (either Simplified Form T2200S or T2200) certifying that the employee worked from home in 2022 due to COVID-19 and bore their own home office expenses.
- If claiming expenses other than home office costs, such as cellphone, office supplies, vehicle, travel expenses, the Form T2200 (not T2200S) should be used.
- The claim process involves:
- Calculating the employment use of the workspace.
- Determining eligible expenses, which can include electricity, heat, water, a portion of condo fees related to utilities, home internet access, maintenance/minor repair costs, and rent for a house or apartment.
When deciding between the two methods, consider the potential additional claim under the detailed method and evaluate if the extra effort for claim preparation and the possibility of a CRA audit/review is worthwhile.