Can a Sole Trader Claim Home Internet & Phone? (2025–26)
Whether you can claim home internet and phone as a sole trader depends on which home-office method you use. A plain-English guide with a worked example, current for 2025–26.
Short answer: yes — but how you claim them, and whether you can claim them separately at all, depends entirely on which working-from-home method you use. This is the single most common place sole traders accidentally double-claim and trip an ATO review.
The fork that decides everything
There are two methods, and they treat phone and internet completely differently.
Fixed rate method (70 cents per hour). You claim 70c for every hour you work from home in 2025–26. That rate already includes your electricity and gas, home and mobile phone, internet, and stationery and computer consumables — bundled into the one figure. The catch most people miss: if you use the 70c method, you cannot also claim your phone or internet separately. Doing both is double-claiming, and it is exactly what the ATO looks for.
Actual cost method. You claim the work-related percentage of your actual phone and internet bills (and other running costs), worked out on a reasonable basis. No bundling — but you need the records to back the percentage.
So the real question is not “can I claim internet and phone” — it is “which method gives me more, and can I support it?”
Priya is a sole-trader bookkeeper working from home.
- Internet: $90/month ($1,080/year). She works out that about 40% of the household’s usage is her business → $432.
- Mobile: $70/month ($840/year). A 4-week review of her call and data logs shows about 60% work use → $504.
- Total: $936 in phone and internet for the year under the actual cost method.
If Priya instead used the 70c fixed rate, that $936 would already be inside the hourly figure — she could not add it on top. For someone with heavy connectivity costs and a defensible work percentage, the actual cost method often wins; for someone who just wants simplicity, the 70c rate is easier and safer.
How to work out your work-use percentage
The ATO will not accept a round guess. A defensible basis is:
- Phone: review a representative 4-week period — work calls and data versus total — and apply that percentage across the year.
- Internet: estimate the work share of household data over a representative period (be honest about other people in the house and streaming).
- Keep at least one bill for each service, and a note of how you reached the percentage.
The watch-outs that get sole traders pinged
- Double-dipping: using the 70c fixed rate and claiming phone or internet separately. Pick one method.
- Shared household services: a family internet or phone plan needs a supportable work-use basis, not “about half”.
- 100% claims: claiming the whole bill when the service is obviously also personal is a red flag.
- No records: even on the fixed rate, you must keep your hours for the whole year (the 4-week estimate was scrapped in 2023) and at least one bill per covered expense.
Bottom line
If your connectivity costs are modest and you want simplicity, the 70c fixed rate quietly covers phone and internet — just do not claim them again. If they are significant and you can support the percentages, the actual cost method usually puts more back in your pocket. Work out both once; the bigger number, properly evidenced, is the one to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I claim phone and internet separately if I use the 70c fixed rate method?
No. Phone and internet are already included in the 70 cents per hour fixed rate. Claiming them again separately is double-claiming, which the ATO actively reviews.
What work-use percentage can I claim for my phone and internet?
Whatever you can reasonably support from a representative period of records — there is no fixed “safe” number. Review a 4-week period of work versus total use and apply that percentage across the year.
Do I need to keep receipts and bills?
Yes. Keep at least one bill for each service you claim, plus your record of hours worked from home (fixed rate method) or your work-use calculations (actual cost method).