Home-Based Businesses Q&A

Hi Tracey,

There a different things that can be deducted depending on if you have a work area set up.

Generally speaking in your situation where your home is not your business premises you can claim utilities such as electricity and gas (apportioned), work related phone calls and depreciation on office equipment and furniture.

If you have a specific area set up to do your work you can even claim depreciation on curtains, light fittings and carpet etc.

You cannot claim rent payments, mortgage interest, insurance and council rates.

Thanks Ms. Kathie Thomas. Will see after situation comes normalcy. Be safe.

Whenever I work from home I think it's important to actually reserve a space to work. I personally live in a small apartment, so I don't have the luxury of having an actual room or study dedicated to working in a home office. 

What I call my home office is my desktop table and chair. Over time I've learned to associate that position with "work". In terms of surfing and going on the internet for leisure, I do that on my laptop around the house or on the couch.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not only objects that can make your home office functional, it can be a matter of mentality when you are in that area. As well as what Timothy mentioned, the processes and rules you set yourself in order to keep you on track. 

I found this great article that talks about how working from home can actually boost productivity and there are some great tips as well that will help you create a more effective work environment at home:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevecooper/2012/08/31/boost-productivity-by-working-from-home-really/ 

I think you have the same problem a lot of people who work from home have: you don't treat it like it's work from the office.

Basically, that's the first thing you need to do: treat it with the same respect as you would an actual 9-5 job.

Get up early. Eat a hearty breakfast. Grab coffee. Get yourself in front of your desk and begin chipping away at your tasks.

How about dinner and the dog and the dishes? Get a nanny or someone to help you with the chores. If that's not possible, get your work done...and when you've accomplished the work-related tasks for the day...that's when you do everything else.

There's a lot to be thankful for, when you work from home (not being suck in traffic is a huge plus), so make sure you do a great job at keeping your work from home boss/clients happy.

If you want to know a bit more detail about how I succeeded in working from home for more than a decade, just drop me a SavvyMail.

Hope that helps.