Tag: home office expenses

Many South Africans working from home are asking which home office expenses they can claim as tax deductible items. They also want to know how to claim them correctly. This question is especially relevant for the growing number of South African employees working remotely for global companies. Increasingly, these employees are turning to tax practitioners for guidance regarding home office tax claims.

There are regulations and rules that protect both employer and employee when it comes to costs, tools and behaviours, but these are being tested in entirely new ways with the 2020 pandemic. It’s a perfectly legitimate question for any employee to ask for financial support when they’re working from home, using their internet and electricity to do their jobs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated many employees to work remotely from their homes during the lockdown period. This in turn has meant that employees had to ensure that a space, or part of their home, was set up in such a manner that it was conducive for them to work from home effectively and productively.

If filling in a tax return were an easy task, South African Revenue Service (SARS) would not have a page dedicated to How to complete your income tax return. When in doubt, turn to a professional for advice, but in the meantime here are some tips for a smooth tax return submission: