Indeterminate WFH Period

Frantic on 29/06/2020 - 22:03
Last edited 29/06/2020 - 22:36

Hello Ozbargaineers,

My place of employement in VIC was probably one of the first to do a complete WFH for all staff (minus 1 or 2 people working on site for mail etc).

We began full WFH since early March and by the looks of things it will continue well past July and based on what I have heard all of Winter (Aug-Sept) or thereabouts.

So far I have been getting by with an old laptop, and kitchen chair and desk. Pretty uncomfortable. The computer is now playing up and I would like a new chair. Yeah I probably should have organised all this sooner.

Since we are approaching EOFY, is it worthwhile me going out and buying a new chair, laptop, and maybe desk (each under $300) or.. should I claim the max 80c per hour and on the 1st of July.. or 2nd.. go out and by above mentioned items for next FY.

Could I effectively get the best of both worlds? 80c/hr for this EOFY and 100% deductions for those items for next EOFY.

What if we are required to go back to work (and effectively stop WFH full time) sooner than anticipated? Like in the first few weeks of July..

I should mention my current role has always had -some- WFH component (prior to covid, WFH was usually couple of times a month for most employees unless they special arrangements).

Also.. we are getting a small WFH stipdent each fortnight.. would this invalidate any claim to any tax benefit?

Hopefully this hasn't been asked before.. no doubt there are quite a few WFH threads but I didn't want to hijack anyone elses.

Thank you!

Financial

Comments

  • kerfuffle on 29/06/2020 - 22:07
    +2

    What if we are required to go back to work (and effectively stop WFH full time) sooner than anticipated? Like in the first few weeks of July.

    Considering that the number of cases in Victoria is rising, I doubt you'll be stopping WFH full-time in the first few weeks next month.

    • Frantic on 29/06/2020 - 22:15
      +1

      Yeah thanks, that does seem very unlikely.. esp since back in May we were slated to spend most/all of winter WFH. Also most of the staff (even non-techy ones) appear to be getting the hang of things!

      • myusername on 29/06/2020 - 22:38

        please just try and work from home as long as you can ;-)

        most of us are going for the 80c/hr

        would you mind explaining that WFH stipent a bit please?

        • Frantic on 29/06/2020 - 22:47
          +1

          It's small.. our payroll system is being maintained atm so can't check.. but its less than $100/fortnight.. I think to cover some portion of electricity, food maybe, coffee, etc.

          • lplau on 29/06/2020 - 22:53

            @Frantic: You cannot double claim.
            You either choose to claim 80c/hr or you claim them all seperately.

            e.g. you cannot claim 80c/hr and claim your home office setup at the same time.

            And i believe the 80c/hr "easy" calculation that ATO has put in, is only valid to 30 June, they don't have provisions for it to be used after that yet. It was something they put in due to COVID19, there is no news about them extending it yet as far as i know.

            It depends on your company and what stipent they give you and how they declare it. Best to actually talk to an accountant for that. Because if they specify that this is to "compensate for costs of WFH" then logically you would need to reduce your deduction as you have had a "part" reimbursement by your employer. However if it is a income supplement to reduce the burden of reduced hours then it would go into income tax. Hard to say, unless you go through your company emails and read EXACTLY what the stipent's reasoning was.

            • Laurana on 02/07/2020 - 00:38

              @lplau: I’m pretty sure the “you claim them both part” of your post is incorrect.

              You can claim all your work related expenses (monitor, chair, etc) in setting up the work from home space. The $0.80/hr relates to the “running expenses” of the home office. Such as… electricity costs, internet, water, rent, etc. Not set up costs.

              With that said, if you are getting a stipend from work then you can’t claim the $0.80/hr. You could still claim the set up costs but it depends on the stipend from work and how you allocate it.

              The ATO has quite a lot of information on this which is easy to find online.

              • lplau on 10/07/2020 - 00:45

                @Laurana: Not sure how reliable news.com.au is when it comes to tax.

                It says here than you can only claim one or the other in terms of 80c per hr or equipment costs.

                The guideline comes from National Tax and Accountants’ Association spokesperson Andrew Gardiner:

                https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/tax/ato-tax-refund-how…

                Quoted:
                Opting for the flat rate means the taxpayer will forgo their right to claim the new desk, chair or computer they splashed cash on when the pandemic forced the majority of the workforce to abandon their office.

                “Once you go down the path of adopting the ATO’s 80 cents per hour claim, you then forfeit your right to separately claim for home office expenses like electricity which extends to the internet and home phone.

                “It also then removes the right to claim depreciation on your desk, computer and consumables like print cartridges and paper.”

          • myusername on 30/06/2020 - 18:00

            @Frantic: that's interesting i wonder if that will effect what you can claim on?

        • Banana on 30/06/2020 - 00:05

          Is there a reason why 80c/hr is better? I had to get my whole WFH setup done so I was planning to claim everything separately. I bought a chair, a monitor, keyboard and a laptop stand, ~$500 worth of goods to depreciate.

          • Fluffyduck77 on 30/06/2020 - 07:29
            +2

            @Banana: Im doing the 50c/hr and depreciate stuff I had to buy (e.g. chair, monitor etc.). For those who already had a WFH setup then the 80c/hr could be better. Not an accountant though.

            • Banana on 30/06/2020 - 09:33

              @Fluffyduck77: That makes sense, thank you!

            • Laurana on 02/07/2020 - 00:44

              @Fluffyduck77: The $0.52 is the rate pre covid 19 (March 2020). Between 1 March and 30 June 2020, you should be claiming $0.80.

          • Laurana on 02/07/2020 - 00:43

            @Banana: You don’t have to depreciate them all if the total is over $300. You only have to depreciate the individual items which are over $300.

            So in theory you can claim:
            $300 monitor
            $300 chair
            $300 for keyboard and stand

            Etc.

            However, if you buy two monitors for a combined $400, then you’d need to depreciate them. Because it’s the same type of item.

            • Banana on 02/07/2020 - 09:15

              @Laurana: Got it, it's the first time ever for me to buy office-related equipment so I appreciate the the advise greatly.

              • Laurana on 02/07/2020 - 18:45

                @Banana: You’re very welcome. Feel free to message me if you have any questions, I work in Accounting even though it’s not in the income tax area.

  • ihavok on 29/06/2020 - 22:16
    +2

    For the time being, could you ask work if you can borrow items from the workplace to WFH? Some people bring back monitors, chairs, etc as these items are unused in the unoccupied workplace anyway.

    If you see yourself doing WFH regularly for the long run, you might want to consider purchasing the items that you think you need the most.

    • lplau on 29/06/2020 - 22:48

      If it is a proper workplace and with a proper OH&S, then they wouldn't allow you to take monitors/chairs etc home, or even move them. Because if you are injured whilst moving them, then you can technically sue the company for any injuries sustained.

      I am not sure about the following rule though, due to COVID19 restrictions. It may still apply but i know it applied with usual WFH arrangements.
      If you are working from home there are worksafe guidelines which still apply to OH&S, e.g. table heights, chair requirements, monitor height levels etc.

      If the work does not provide you with this, then if there are any medical conditions which arise you can technically also claim Worksafe.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/06/2020 - 22:26
    -6

    lol?

  • capslock on 30/06/2020 - 09:18

    You are spending a third of your day working. You should try to make it as comfortable as possible. Deciding if you want a tax deduction this year or next year is not really a big deal in my opinion.

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