Work From home claiming utilities.

[at-991]

My electricity bill is made up of Usage Charges i.e. 0.10$ per kwH, Delivery Charges, Regulatory Charges, HST and a provincial rebate.  How do I determine what portion of that to include when determining the electricity I paid.  Is it just the usage charges?  My gas company puts together a clear summary for tax purposes, but the hydro company does not.  Do I just remove the HST from the total bill, or do I need to exclude other costs like the delivery and regulatory charges.  The CRA website is not clear on this point.

[JohnB5677]

You've made it more complicated than you need to.  

• You can take the entire bill and use it as the office percentage of the entire home.
• Fore instance: if the home is 2000 sq ft and the office is 10X10=100 sq ft you can take 5%.

Please confirm that you qualify for a home office.

To deduct expenses for business use of the home, you must use part of your home as one of the following:

1. Exclusively on a regular basis as your principal place of business for your trade or business;
2. Exclusively on a regular basis as a place where you meet or deal with your patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business;
3. A separate structure that's not attached to your home, used exclusively on a regular basis in connection with your trade or business;
4. On a regular basis for storage of inventory or product samples used in your trade or business of selling products at retail or wholesale, so long as your home is the sole fixed location of such trade or business;
5. For rental use; or
6. As a daycare facility.

See the IRS guidelines for Business use of home