Deducting home costs if I work from home on the side?

Question

I have a question on how to claim deductions if I use my home as a home office. See http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns206-236/229/cmmssn/hm-eng.html

Let us say that my employer does not allow WFH, but I earn money on the side writing articles for blogs/websites and I do that from home.

So that covers the first condition of working at least 50% from home.

The next condition says it has to be employment income. Does that mean the freelance income does not count?

Answer 1

Your freelance income will not qualify you for the work-from-home deductions, for that you would need a T2200 form signed by your employer. But, you are allowed to be self employed as a sole-proprietorship while still being an employee of another company. If you take that route, you'll be able to write-off even more expenses than those you linked to. Things like a portion of your internet bill can be claimed, for example. But note that these deductions would only apply to offset the self-employment income, so if you're not earning very much from the freelance work, it might not be worth all the hassle. Filing taxes when self-employed is definitely more complicated, and many people will get professional tax preparation help - at least for the first time.