Who can claim, and on what terms
Section 23(b) of the Income Tax Act prohibits deductions for your home unless part of it is occupied for the purposes of your trade. SARS sets out how it applies the rules in Interpretation Note 28 (Issue 3), which it follows from the 2023 year of assessment. That part must be specifically equipped for the trade and regularly and exclusively used for it. Employment counts as a trade, so employees can qualify, but they face an extra test that depends on how they are paid.
| You are | Extra test | Bond interest | Phone, fibre, stationery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salaried employee | More than 50% of duties for the year performed in the home office | Not deductible | Not deductible |
| Employee mainly on commission | Over 50% of employment income is commission or performance pay, and duties mainly performed away from an employer office | Floor area share | Deductible if for work |
| Self-employed | None beyond the room tests | Floor area share | Deductible if for work |
The split comes from section 23(m), which limits what employees who are not mainly on commission may deduct. It allows rent, repairs and expenses in connection with the qualifying part of the home, and wear-and-tear on equipment, but little else.
What "specifically equipped" and "exclusively used" mean in practice
Specifically equipped means the space has what your work needs. For office work SARS expects at least a workstation, a chair, a computer and communication equipment. A mechanic needs tools, a doctor needs examination equipment. Exclusive use is where most claims fail. Interpretation Note 28 gives these outcomes:
- Working from a laptop on the dining table, which the family eats at in the evening: fails.
- A dedicated study where the children play on winter afternoons: fails.
- Two spouses sharing one room, desk and equipment for their two jobs: fails for both.
- Two spouses who divide a room into two separately equipped areas, each used by one of them only: passes.
- Taking a private phone call at your desk, or walking through to the patio after work: does not count against you.
Regular use means frequent. A home office used once on a weekend by someone who has separate business premises is not used regularly.
The more-than-half test for salaried employees
"Mainly" means more than 50%, measured across the whole year of assessment in working days. If you worked 150 of 250 days from the home office, that is 60% and you pass. If you worked at the office for nine months and from home for three, the test still runs over all twelve, and you fail. What your employment contract allows is not the test; where you actually worked is. Employees who spend most of their time on the road visiting clients also fail, because their duties are mainly performed somewhere other than the home office. Commission earners are measured differently, so if your pay is mostly commission, the commission calculator helps you check the split.
How the floor area method works
SARS accepts one apportionment method: floor area. Divide the area of the home office by the total floor area of every building on the property, including garages, a cottage and staff quarters, and apply that fraction to each qualifying cost. The erf size is irrelevant, and estimates are not allowed: use measured dimensions from an approved building plan or a hand-drawn plan with accurate measurements.
Take a 14 m² study in a 196 m² house with a 36 m² garage and a 48 m² cottage. The total is 280 m², so the ratio is 14 ÷ 280 = 5.00%, not the 7.14% you would get from the main house alone. Two refinements: a repair to the office room itself is claimed in full, while a repair to a bathroom or bedroom is not claimable at all. A repair to the whole roof is apportioned like any other cost.
Worked example: same home, three kinds of taxpayer
Annual costs: bond interest R72,000, rates and taxes R18,000, electricity R26,400, cleaning R12,000, buildings insurance R7,200, security R6,000 and a roof repair of R15,000. Taxable income R520,000, under 65, 2026/2027 tables, and each person passes the qualifying tests that apply to them.
| Taxpayer | Floor area share | Deduction | Tax saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salaried employee | 5.00% | R4,230 | R1,311 |
| Employee mainly on commission | 5.00% | R7,830 | R2,427 |
| Self-employed or sole proprietor | 5.00% | R7,830 | R2,427 |
The salaried employee claims R4,230.00, saving R1,311.30. The commission earner and the self-employed person also claim the R3,600.00 share of bond interest, for a deduction of R7,830.00 and a saving of R2,427.30. On a home with a large bond, that is the biggest single difference between the groups.
Costs that qualify and costs that do not
- Claimable by floor area: rent, bond interest (not for salaried employees), rates and taxes, sewerage and refuse charges, electricity, cleaning, insurance on the building, and security services.
- Claimable in full: repairs to the office room itself.
- Not claimable: contents insurance, bond life cover, repairs to other rooms, and capital installations such as a security system.
- Sectional title levies: only the part that pays for your own section's rates or electricity, apportioned; the part for common property is not deductible.
- Wear-and-tear on a desk, chair or computer used for work: allowed for every group, outside the floor area calculation.
The capital gains tax trade-off
Claiming a home office has a cost when you sell. The part of the home used for trade is no longer fully covered by the primary residence exclusion of R3,000,000, so a share of the gain, worked out by floor area, time or both, becomes taxable. The exclusion itself is not reduced and still shelters the rest of the gain. Weigh the yearly saving against that later cost, particularly if you expect to sell a home that has risen sharply in value.
Records SARS may ask for
Keep a measured floor plan, a day-by-day schedule of where you worked, the invoices and statements for each cost, and photos showing the equipped room. If you claim for only part of the year, keep the costs for those months separately; SARS does not allow a time-based shortcut. Add the deduction to your ITR12 and check the effect with the tax refund calculator. If you run your own business, the freelancer tax calculator shows the deduction's effect on what you set aside each month, and the SARS tax tables give the marginal rates used above.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim a home office if I work from home two days a week?
Not as a salaried employee. Two days out of five is 40% of your working time, and the test is more than 50% of your duties for the whole tax year, counted in working days. Three days a week at home all year usually passes, as long as the room also meets the equipment and exclusive use tests.
Does a desk in the corner of my bedroom count?
Almost never. SARS accepts that part of a room can be a home office in principle, but you must prove nobody uses that part for anything else, during or after work. In a room also used for sleeping, dining or play, that burden of proof is very hard to meet. A separate room is the practical answer.
Can I deduct bond interest?
Only if you are self-employed or an employee earning mainly commission. For salaried employees, section 23(m) blocks the deduction because the interest is deductible under section 24J rather than section 11(a), which SARS confirms in Interpretation Note 28. Rates, electricity, cleaning and repairs remain claimable in proportion to floor area.
Can a salaried employee claim internet, phone or a new laptop?
Fibre, phone and stationery costs are blocked by section 23(m) for employees who are not mainly on commission, even when used only for work. Equipment and furniture are different: a wear-and-tear allowance on a computer, desk or chair used for work is still allowed.
Is a letter from my employer enough proof?
No. SARS will not accept an employer letter as proof that you worked mainly from home. An employer can confirm that you were allowed to work remotely and, if it keeps access records, how many days you were in the office. Keep your own schedule of where you worked each day.
Do I apportion the costs by the months I worked from home?
No. If you qualify for only part of the year, you take the actual costs for those months and apply the floor area ratio to them. Once you qualify, there is no further cut for the number of days a week you spend in the office.
Will a home office affect capital gains tax when I sell?
Yes. The part of the home used for trade loses the primary residence exclusion for the period it was used that way, so a share of the gain is taxed. The R3,000,000 exclusion for the 2026/27 year still applies in full to the rest.