Checklist of categories of eligible expenses for your professional practice
As autonomous workers managing your own private practice, you (hopefully) already know that you need to keep detailed records for all your expenses. This article reviews the major categories of expenses so as to save you and your accountant time when preparing to submit your tax return – and to include as many eligible expenses as possible.
Note that this list is largely non-applicable if you are a salaried worker, in which case your employer will issue you a T4 tax slip. If you are an autonomous worker for a spa or run your own business, this list is for you!
- Advertising
- Including all advertising such as on Facebook, in Canadian newspapers, or radio stations.
- Business cards.
- Some restrictions apply to the amount of the expense that you can deduct for advertising in a magazines.
- Allowance on eligible capital property
- Items you buy that will be used over a long time period, such as a laptop. This would be expensed over more than one year.
- Business start-up costs
- Initial expenditures (furniture, a new lease, equipment, etc.)
- Business tax, fees, Bank fees, licenses and dues
- Includes your AQTN membership fee.
- Business-use-of-home-expenses (based on a proportion of your home office space in relation to your home).
- Use a reasonable basis, such as the area of the work space divided by the total area of your home.
- Based on the % calculated, you can use the following expenses:
- Cleaning materials.
- Electricity.
- Heating.
- Home insurance.
- Maintenance and repairs.
- Mortgage interest.
- Property taxes.
- Rent.
- Telephone.
- Utilities.
- Insurance (Civil responsibility, errors & omissions, fire & theft, etc.)
- Meals and entertainment (allowable part only)
- 50% – Meals (and all expenses in fact) must be valid and backed with documentation / receipts.
- Travel / Motor vehicle expenses – Non-applicable if you have an employer who issues T4 slips
- Bus tickets or monthly transit pass.
- You are required to maintain a mileage log.
- Fuel.
- Registration.
- Maintenance.
- License fees.
- Office supplies / expenses
- Insurance receipts purchased from the association.
- Pens, Pencils, Paper clips, Stationery, Stamps.
- Do not include calculators, filing cabinets, chairs, desk (these are in general Capital items).
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