On this page (8 sections)
- Do teachers qualify? Marking and planning count
- The fixed rate method: 70c an hour
- The record you need (this is where claims fail)
- The actual cost method: when it's worth the effort
- Working from home vs the $1,000 standard deduction
- Laptops, desks and chairs: claiming the equipment
- Common mistakes teachers make with WFH claims
- FAQs
The short answer
Yes. Teachers who mark, plan or report at home can claim working from home using the ATO fixed rate of 70 cents per hour (the 2024–25 and 2025–26 rate; the 2026–27 rate is not yet published) or actual costs. You need a record of every hour worked at home. Five hours a week over a 40-week year is about $140.
- The fixed rate covers electricity, gas, phone, internet, stationery and computer consumables.
- You can claim laptop, desk and chair depreciation on top.
- Estimates and 'typical week' claims aren't accepted under the fixed rate. You need a log of actual hours.
- For 2026–27, compare your total work claims with the automatic $1,000 standard deduction.
Do teachers qualify? Marking and planning count
You don't need a formal work-from-home arrangement. The ATO's test is whether you are working from home to fulfil your employment duties, not just doing minor tasks like checking an email. Marking a stack of essays, writing reports, building a unit plan or preparing lessons all count. So does a parent-teacher interview held online from home.
You also need to incur extra running costs because you work at home, such as electricity for lights and a laptop, or internet use. For almost every teacher who marks at a desk at night, that's true. What doesn't count is time spent at school, travelling, or doing private study unrelated to your job.
The fixed rate method: 70c an hour
The ATO's fixed rate method lets you claim a set amount for every hour you work from home. For 2024–25 and 2025–26 it is 70 cents per hour. The ATO hasn't yet published a rate for 2026–27 (the return you lodge from July 2027). It usually confirms the rate before tax time, so log your hours now and apply the rate when it's announced.
Source: ATO fixed rate method page (updated 8 June 2026).
Year 9 English teacher who marks and plans at home
- Hours at home in a normal term week
- 5 hours
- School weeks
- 40
- Holiday programming and report writing
- 20 hours
- Total logged hours
- 220 hours
- Fixed rate (2025–26 rate, used as an illustration)
- 70c
At a 32% marginal rate (30% tax + 2% Medicare) the tax saving is about $49. Use the 2026–27 rate once the ATO publishes it.
The record you need (this is where claims fail)
Since 1 March 2023, the ATO has required a record of the actual hours you work from home for the whole year. An estimate, a four-week sample or 'I usually do about five hours' is not enough under the fixed rate. This is the most common reason teacher WFH claims get adjusted.
What counts as a good hours record
- A timesheet, spreadsheet or diary entry for each session: date, start, finish, total
- A short note of what you did: 'Y11 Modern History essays', 'Semester 1 reports'
- Kept as you go, not reconstructed in July
- Evidence of at least one expense the rate covers, such as an electricity or phone bill
- Receipts for any equipment you're depreciating separately
A calendar entry or a note in your phone at the end of each marking session is enough, as long as it records actual times. Logins to your school's learning management system or email timestamps can help support it, but they don't replace your own log.
The actual cost method: when it's worth the effort
Instead of the fixed rate, you can claim the actual extra costs of working at home: the work share of electricity, phone, internet and stationery, plus depreciation. You need far more evidence, including bills and a reasonable way to split work from private use, such as a four-week diary for phone and internet and a calculation of the electricity used by your work area.
＋ Pros
- Can give a bigger claim if you have a dedicated study, high power costs or heavy work phone use
- Lets you claim actual work-related phone and internet costs
− Cons
- You need bills, diaries and a calculation for every cost
- For a teacher doing 5 to 8 hours a week at a kitchen table, the extra work rarely produces much more than the fixed rate
- Higher risk of ATO questions if your method isn't solid
Most teachers will find the fixed rate simpler and close enough. You can choose the method each year, but you can't mix them for the same expense.
Working from home vs the $1,000 standard deduction
From 2026–27, a $1,000 standard deduction for work-related expenses applies automatically to people with salary or wage income. Your itemised work claims, including working from home, reduce it. So in practice you get the larger of $1,000 or your itemised work expenses. WFH on its own will rarely beat $1,000 for a classroom teacher.
Illustrative amounts over a 40-week school year, using 70c per hour as a placeholder for the unpublished 2026–27 rate.
Keep logging hours anyway. You won't know until June 2027 whether a new laptop, a conference fee or a course pushes you over $1,000, and you can't reconstruct an hours log after the fact. See how the $1,000 standard deduction works for teachers.
Free calculator
Will itemising beat the $1,000 deduction?
Enter your WFH hours, union fees, registration and equipment to compare itemising with the standard deduction at your salary and HELP status.
Run the numbersLaptops, desks and chairs: claiming the equipment
The fixed rate doesn't cover equipment, so you can claim it separately whichever method you use. If you bought it yourself and your school didn't supply one, you claim the work-use share. Items costing $300 or less can be claimed in full straight away (work share). Above $300, you claim depreciation over the item's effective life.
- If your school or department issued you a laptop, you can't claim a second one you bought for convenience unless you genuinely use it for work. Even then, only the work share counts.
- Work out the work share from how you actually use it. A family laptop the kids use most evenings is not 90% work.
- A desk and chair used only in a dedicated study for marking can have a high work share. A dining table cannot be claimed.
- Repairs to work equipment are deductible in the year you pay for them.
Common mistakes teachers make with WFH claims
- Estimating hours. The fixed rate needs a log of actual hours, not a 'typical week' times 40.
- Double claiming. Claiming the 70c rate and also your phone or internet bill. The rate already covers them.
- Claiming rent or mortgage interest. Employees generally can't claim occupancy costs for a home study. That's for people running a business from home.
- Counting school hours. Time at school, even if you stay late in your classroom, isn't working from home.
- Forgetting the rate changes. Don't assume 70c for 2026–27. Use the rate the ATO publishes for that year.
Frequently asked questions
Can teachers claim working from home on tax?
What is the working from home rate for 2026–27?
Do I need a formal arrangement with my school to claim WFH?
What records do I need for the 70c method?
Can I claim my laptop as well as the 70c rate?
Is the WFH deduction worth it with the new $1,000 standard deduction?
Can I claim WFH hours in the school holidays?
Sources we checked · last verified 2026-10-16
About this page
Written and fact-checked by the TeacherPay AU editorial team against the enterprise agreements, awards and official pages listed in the sources. It is general information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it, usually within a day. See our editorial policy and how we calculate.
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