How to Claim Home Office Expenses in Singapore (2026 Guide)

Quick answer

Singapore lets employees claim working-from-home costs, which most countries don’t, but only for the extra running costs and only on IRAS’s terms. Sole proprietors and partners work from the business expense rules instead. This guide covers both, with IRAS’s own worked examples, the GST side and the records. Rules are from IRAS in the Sources section, retrieved 10 October 2026.

Who can claim as an employee

If your employer requires you to work from home and doesn’t reimburse the resulting home office expenses, such as electricity and telecommunication charges, you can claim the costs incurred for work against your employment income ^[1] . Like every employment expense, they must be for your official duties, not reimbursed, and not capital or private ^[1] . Choosing to work from home, or a cost your employer pays back, doesn’t qualify.

The base month method

Because exact running costs are hard to measure, IRAS accepts comparing the bills before and after working from home and claiming the difference ^[1] . IRAS’s example: Ms A worked from home from April to June 2025, with a March base of $170 and bills of $210, $220 and $250, so she claims $40, $50 and $80, $170 for the year of assessment 2026 ^[1] . If a U-Save rebate pulls May down to $110, May gives nil and her claim is $120 ^[1] . If her husband also worked from home those months, IRAS accepts an equal split, $85 each ^[1] .

WiFi and set-up costs

The monthly WiFi subscription can be claimed only if the WiFi was set up to enable you to work from home; no deduction can be claimed if it was set up before you started working from home ^[1] . One-time charges such as installation or connection fees are capital in nature and can’t be claimed ^[1] . The internet guide has more on broadband.

Sole proprietors and partners

IRAS lists rent, utility and telephone charges for the business among allowable business expenses ^[2] . Food, household and entertainment expenses for yourself, family members and friends are private and disallowed, as is the cost of travelling to and from your home ^[2] . Where your home doubles as your business premises, deduct only the business part of rent and utilities on a reasonable basis and keep the workings. Office furniture and equipment are claimed through capital allowances, with a one-year write-off for assets of $5,000 or less each within a $30,000 cap a year ^[3] .

GST

GST is 9% ^[4] . Only a GST-registered business claims input tax, on the business share of costs supported by a tax invoice, or a simplified tax invoice for amounts up to $1,000 ^[5] .

Records

Keep the base month bill and every later bill you claim against, your employer’s instruction to work from home, and for WiFi, evidence of when it was set up. Enter employment expenses in the Employment Income and Expenses section of your income tax return ^[1] . The record-keeping guide covers retention.

Common mistakes

• Claiming the whole electricity bill instead of the increase over a base month ^[1] .
• Claiming WiFi that was already in place before working from home ^[1] .
• Claiming installation or connection fees ^[1] .
• Both members of a household claiming the full shared increase ^[1] .
• A sole proprietor deducting household costs ^[2] .

Software that helps

ExpenseFlow captures utility, phone and furniture invoices for a business by email, upload or photo, codes each line with a tax code and a written reason, and can apply a fixed business-use percentage you configure per account. It syncs to Xero or QuickBooks Online after approval. It doesn’t prepare an employee’s personal tax return.