{"id":830431,"date":"2025-07-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=830431"},"modified":"2025-07-04T14:43:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:43:53","slug":"important-information-about-work-from-home-taxes-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/830431\/important-information-about-work-from-home-taxes-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Important information about work from home taxes in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tax experts have outlined how South African taxpayers may qualify for work-from home deduction in the 2025 tax season, but warn that the country&#8217;s tax laws make it difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa&#8217;s Income Tax Act includes specific provisions regulating claims for working for home, and the process isn&#8217;t as straightforward as it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Tax Consulting SA, commission earners generally have more flexibility when it comes to these deductions, but salaried employees working from home may run into trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because there are more restrictive rules that apply in their cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If you earn only a fixed salary, work from home full time, and use a dedicated space solely for work, there may be grounds for claiming home office expenses, provided you meet the strict requirements set out in law,&#8221; the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the onus will be on these employees to prove to SARS that it is warranted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tax Consulting noted that three key sections of the Income Tax Act govern these deductions, specifically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Section 11(a) \u2013 General deduction formula.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 23(b) \u2013 Use of home for trade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 23(m) \u2013 Limitations for salaried employees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Section 11(a)<\/strong>, often referred to as the \u201cgeneral deduction formula,\u201d allows a taxpayer who is \u2018<em>carrying on a trade\u2019<\/em>&nbsp;to deduct \u2018<em>expenditure and losses actually incurred in the production of income, provided such expenses are not of a capital nature\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the context of a salaried employee, \u201ctrade\u201d includes employment. Therefore, an employee who earns remuneration is regarded as carrying on a trade in the form of employment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If a salaried employee incurs home office expenses in the production of employment income, those expenses will conceptually fall within the scope of section 11(a),&#8221; Tax Consulting said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it noted that, when claiming home office expenditure that section 11(a), this should be applied in conjunction with the limitations imposed by Section 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Section 23(b)<\/strong>\u00a0imposes a specific prohibition against claiming deductions for expenses related to premises\u00a0<em>\u2018used for domestic or private\u2019\u00a0<\/em>purposes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is, however, an exception where:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is a dedicated area used for the purposes of employment,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That area is specifically equipped for such employment; and,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The area is regularly and exclusively used for employment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For salaried employees\u2014not commission earners\u2014it is required that <strong>more than 50% of their duties must be performed in the home office<\/strong>, and the <strong>home office must be a clearly defined and exclusive workspace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For full-time remote workers with a defined, exclusive home office, this means you may qualify\u2014<em>in theory<\/em>,&#8221; the experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, anyone trying to claim might run into problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Problems taxpayers might run into<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-830432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Work-from-home-office.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Any WFH tax deductions only apply to dedicated home office space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tax Consulting noted that <strong>Section 23(m)<\/strong>\u00a0disallows most deductions under section 11 for employees who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Earn remuneration (i.e., salary),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And do not earn more than 50% of that income as commission or variable-based remuneration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For taxpayers who earn a fixed salary only, section 23(m) prohibits deductions for most expenditure, losses, or allowances that would otherwise be allowable under section 11(a).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only expenses directly tied to the use of the premises, such as rent, electricity, and cleaning, may be considered, and only under very specific conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In short, while section 11(a) allows the deduction of qualifying expenses, and section 23(b) adds strict conditions for home office use, section 23(m) disallows most deductions for salaried earners,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In practice, this means that even if the general and home-office-specific conditions are met, fixed-salary earners are <strong>still barred from deducting most business-related expenses, including internet and cell phone costs, accounting fees, and stationery<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group said that any fixed-salary earners working from home full-time, who wish to claim deductions, should ensure that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Their employer provides a formal letter confirming remote work;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They have a dedicated, exclusive workspace;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More than 50% of their duties are performed in that space; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Their claim is limited to premises-related expenses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even then, SARS may still challenge deductions beyond the narrow exemptions outlined above, the group warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The onus is on the taxpayer to prove that the deduction should be allowed.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South African taxpayers may qualify for work-from home deductions in the 2025 tax season, but the tax laws that allow it are tight and restrictive. Here&#8217;s what you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":756773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[15027,19213],"class_list":["post-830431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-tax-consulting","tag-work-from-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":830437,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830431\/revisions\/830437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}