Compare Fixed Rate vs Actual Cost WFH deductions
Enter your weekly working-from-home hours and monthly phone, internet, and energy costs to see which ATO method produces the larger deduction—and what records you must keep.
Interactive WFH deduction comparison calculator
Compare the ATO 67c/hr Fixed Rate Method against the Actual Cost Method based on your hours and work-use bills.
Actual Cost Method Inputs
Actual Cost Method (+$499 extra deduction)
Estimated tax reduction: $324 vs $165 at 32% marginal rate.
$515
- • 768 hrs × $0.67/hr = $515
- • Separate mobile phone & internet deduction: $0 (bundled into 67c/hr rate)
- • Requires full-year contemporaneous hours log + 1 bill per expense type
$1,014
- • Mobile phone (50% work): $510/yr
- • Home internet (30% work): $324/yr
- • Apportioned power & stationery: $180/yr
- • Requires all bills claimed + 4-week representative usage diary
Compare both methods at 30 June — keep bills either way.
Side-by-side 67c/hr Fixed Rate vs Actual Cost comparison
Accounts for the mobile & internet bundling rule
Estimates tax refund impact across marginal brackets
Why the 67c/hr Fixed Rate Method is not always the winner
The ATO Revised Fixed Rate Method (67 cents per hour worked from home) is convenient because it avoids apportioning every electricity and internet bill individually. However, the fixed rate bundles mobile phone usage, home internet, electricity, gas, and stationery into that single hourly figure. If you use your mobile phone and home NBN heavily for work, claiming under the Fixed Rate Method prevents you from claiming your work-related mobile phone or internet bills separately anywhere else on your return.
When the Actual Cost Method yields a larger deduction
Under the Actual Cost Method, you calculate the work-related portion of your mobile phone plan, home internet plan, electricity and gas for your workspace, and computer consumables separately. For employees who work hybrid schedules (for example, two days a week from home) while using a mobile phone 50% or more for work calls and data, the Actual Cost Method frequently produces a substantially larger deduction—provided you retain every bill and a representative four-week usage diary.
Keep records for both methods throughout the year
You do not have to choose between Fixed Rate and Actual Cost on 1 July. If you maintain a contemporaneous log of your working-from-home hours across the financial year and store your monthly phone, internet, and quarterly electricity invoices in PFinance, you can compare both totals at 30 June and use whichever method gives you the better legitimate claim.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I claim my mobile phone bill separately if I use the 67c/hr Fixed Rate Method?
- No. Under ATO rules for the Revised Fixed Rate Method, mobile and home phone expenses as well as home internet are included inside the hourly rate and cannot be claimed separately under D4 or D5.
- Can I still claim depreciation on a desk, monitor, or laptop under the Fixed Rate Method?
- Yes. Decline in value (depreciation) of office furniture and equipment—or an immediate deduction for work items costing $300 or less—can be claimed on top of the 67c/hr fixed rate.
- What records are required for the 67c/hr Fixed Rate Method?
- You must keep a contemporaneous record of all hours worked from home across the entire financial year (such as timesheets, rosters, or a diary updated as you work) plus at least one bill for each running expense you incurred.
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