My employer wants me to work from home

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angrybeaver

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#37873 20-Jul-2009 21:59

I am an account manager for a multi-national company and currently the company pays rent for my office. They have said I can work from home now as they are looking to save money like everyone else in this economy. They have said I can claim a percentage of my power bill and my monthly internet account. Is there any one else in this situation, and if so what do you claim as expenses from your employer? I am assuming that as I am not self employed I cannot get any tax relief - is this correct???

rscole86

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#237298 20-Jul-2009 22:03

I am not sure on the ins and outs, but our 'at home' business pays for 25% of power and internet/phone bills.

meesham

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#237307 20-Jul-2009 22:40

I work from home as a contractor so I'm just claiming expenses from the IRD, but the same might work for you with your employer. For GST and income tax firstly I had to have a dedicated space for my home office, luckily I had a spare bedroom which has become my office. I then had to work out the floorspace of the office as a percentage of the overall floorspace of the house, and I can claim that percentage of power, rent etc. For my phone line as I only have 1 line I can only claim 50% (you can claim 100% of a second line if it's just for business), but I can claim whatever percentage of my internet connection I believe I use for business purposes.

boby55

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#237313 20-Jul-2009 23:01

I think it is common for most "Home business" pay 25% of all the bills eg rates, power, internet.

But if you are working from home, make sure your employer buys you a modern laptop / computer and/or Computer (Office) desk

MackinNZ

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#237321 20-Jul-2009 23:26

I'm an employee for a multinational company and I've worked from home for the last 10 years.

I'm paid a tax free monthly allowance that covers the extra power costs and other incidental expenses. My internet, phone (2nd business line) & fax are all paid by my employer and they don't mind that I use the internet for myself as well. They also supply all the computer hardware and office equipment/supplies I need.

It works very well from my point of view. I'd have real difficulty going back to an office situation now.

We have about 25-30 Account Managers, Trainers, Tech Support (me) and Writers/Editors based in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and a few other centres all working from home on this basis.

NZCoderGuy

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#237490 21-Jul-2009 14:08

I also work from my home office, although i have a different arrangement as per my contract. I get provided a modern laptop, cell phone, primary & secondary phone line (for work use), full speed up/down internet and static ip.

Well, they credit me for the full Internet Costs apart from Traffic, (which is at my own expense), but pay for my 2xhome lines and my static ip from my ISP (World Xchange charges $10 plus Gst a month). But i love it.. ;-) especially how my boss lets me manage my own work time.. and my little boy growing up.

** Warning - requires disapline :-)

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meesham

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#237524 21-Jul-2009 14:43

gtxboyracer:
** Warning - requires disapline :-)

Definitely agree with this. A trick I've found is to make sure you have a dedicated space for your work (helps if you have a spare room to act as your office), and try to work normal hours. Once work has finished for the day, leave the office, close the door, and DON'T GO BACK. It can get very easy to get into a routine of working all sorts of hours, it starts to affect your health and relationships.

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NZCoderGuy

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#237541 21-Jul-2009 15:28

meesham:
gtxboyracer:
** Warning - requires disapline :-)

Definitely agree with this. A trick I've found is to make sure you have a dedicated space for your work (helps if you have a spare room to act as your office), and try to work normal hours. Once work has finished for the day, leave the office, close the door, and DON'T GO BACK. It can get very easy to get into a routine of working all sorts of hours, it starts to affect your health and relationships.

Agreed.. I have a whole bigish room downstairs which i call my office... plus i try to keep to office hours but the odd day i juggle so i can do something with family and work later at night.. its a plus :)

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BurningBeard

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#237543 21-Jul-2009 15:29

^^^ Yep I freelance on the side and do it in the lounge. VERY, very distracting.

My very metal Doctor Who theme

gehenna

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#237550 21-Jul-2009 15:38

I was required to be on-call for my last job in NZ, so they paid my full internet bill. I claimed back any calls made on my home phone, and the cell-phone was completely paid for. If I were you I'd be taking your total power bill, and working out what percentage of that 160ish hours would cost and then make the company pay for that (8x hrs x 20x days).

Full internet payment is a must IMO

NZCoderGuy

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#237552 21-Jul-2009 15:40

ahh yes i forgot to mention they cover any toll calls (to landline or mobile - work related) too..

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