What records should I keep to support home office deductions?

The CRA can ask you to support any home office deduction with documentation, so keeping organized records is important. The key records include copies of your lease or mortgage documents (to show you have a right to the property), utility bills (electricity, heat, water) showing the annual amounts, insurance policy renewals showing your premium, property tax statements if you own, and receipts for any maintenance or repairs you've allocated to the home office.

You should also retain a calculation showing how you determined your home office percentage — the square footage of the office, the total square footage of the home, and the resulting fraction. A simple spreadsheet or document capturing this for each year is sufficient.

For the CRA, receipts should be kept for at least six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate, as the CRA can generally reassess returns within that window. Digital copies of receipts are acceptable. If your office area or usage changes from year to year, note those changes and retain the supporting basis. The stronger your records, the smoother any future audit review will go.