EOFY WFH Checklist for Your 2026–27 Return

What do I need to do before 30 June for my WFH claim?

Make sure your record of hours is complete and checked up to 30 June 2027. Under the ATO’s fixed rate method, you claim 70 cents for each hour you work from home, and the ATO asks for a record of the actual hours for the whole income year, kept at the time.

That’s the one thing you can’t fix after the year ends. Bills can be downloaded later and receipts can be found, but a record of hours has to be made as you go. Use the last weeks of June to fill any gaps you can still remember accurately, and to check days you haven’t looked at.

What’s on the EOFY WFH checklist?

Six steps, most of which take a few minutes if your records are in order.

How do I total my WFH hours?

Add up every hour you worked from home in the income year, then multiply by 70 cents. The ATO’s own example is 843 hours × 70c = $590.10, claimed as $590, with the cents dropped.

Before you total, check the record:

• Only home hours. Remove any time worked at the office, even if it’s on the same laptop. See hybrid work: office and home days.
• Breaks taken out. A lunch break where you stopped work isn’t an hour worked. See do breaks count.
• No double counting. Overlapping hours from two jobs or two computers count once. See two jobs or two computers.
• No gaps you can’t explain. If a week is missing, check why. Leave is fine. A week you forgot to record is a different problem: see forgot to keep a WFH diary.

If you use WFH Diary, the Year screen shows your total and a running estimate, and the printable worksheet can list only the days you still need to check. Whatever tool you use, the totals are only as good as the days behind them.

Which bills and receipts do I need?

At least one bill or document for each running expense the rate covers that you incur. For most people that’s an electricity or gas bill, a phone bill and an internet bill. For stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink, keep a receipt.

The rate covers those costs, so you don’t claim them separately. You don’t need a bill for every month for the fixed rate. One bill per expense type is the minimum the guidance sets (see PCG 2023/1). Many people keep them all anyway, and it does no harm. See which bills to keep.

What about equipment I bought this year?

Gather the receipts. The decline in value of equipment and furniture you use for work, such as a desk, chair, computer or monitor, isn’t covered by the 70 cents, so it’s claimed on top. Repairs to that equipment can be claimed too.

You claim only the work-related share, and you can’t claim items your employer provided or paid you back for. How you work out decline in value depends on the item’s cost and how you use it, so check the ATO’s working from home page or ask a registered tax agent for anything expensive.

Equipment matters more from 2026–27, because it can be what takes your itemised total above $1,000.

Should I claim the fixed rate or the $1,000 standard deduction?

Whichever is higher for you. From 2026–27, a $1,000 standard deduction applies automatically to people with labour income, such as salary and wages, capped at that income. It’s reduced dollar for dollar by the work-related expenses you itemise, so in effect you get the higher of $1,000 or your itemised work expenses.

With nothing else to itemise, you’d need about 1,429 hours at home (around 30 hours a week over 48 weeks) for the fixed rate to pass $1,000. A hybrid worker at home three days a week logs about 1,094 hours, which is $766. Equipment and other work expenses you itemise can change the answer.

Some deductions sit outside the standard deduction and are claimed on top as usual, for example union and professional fees, gifts and donations, the cost of managing your tax affairs and income protection insurance. Those are examples, not the full list, so check the ATO’s standard deduction guidance on ato.gov.au before you decide.

The deduction calculator does the comparison, and the $1,000 standard deduction guide explains it in full. If you itemise above $1,000, you need records for the full amount.

How long do I keep my WFH records?

Five years from the date you lodge your return. That includes your hours record, your bills, and receipts for equipment and consumables.

Keep them somewhere that will still work in five years. A folder of PDFs backed up to the cloud is better than a drawer of paper that fades, and much better than a spreadsheet on a laptop you’ll replace. See the ATO’s WFH record rules for what counts.

When is my 2026–27 tax return due?

31 October 2027 if you lodge yourself. When a due date falls on a weekend, the ATO moves it to the next business day, and 31 October 2027 is a Sunday. If you use a registered tax agent, you need to engage them before 31 October. Agents generally have their own lodgment program and can lodge later for their clients.

The agent dates depend on your circumstances. For 2025–26 returns, the ATO’s due dates for agents’ clients run as late as 15 May 2027 for some individuals. The dates for 2026–27 returns will be published closer to the time.

Lodging opens on 1 July 2027, but there’s no prize for being first. The ATO has urged people not to lodge too early, so that information from employers, banks and others has time to be pre-filled into your return.