Although Solo is not specifically designed for the square metre rate option, you can still use the square metre rate for claiming home office expenses in Solo.
When using the square metre rate option there are a few things to be aware of:
The square rate method does not include premises costs of rent, rates or mortgage interest. You can still claim these costs but you need to use the percentage of floor area used for your business.
You cannot claim GST when using the square metre rate.
You will need to wait until the end of the financial year to claim square metre rate. This is because the IRD only publishes the rates for the current financial year at the end of the financial year.
If you decide to use this method you should use it for the entire tax year.
For the latest rates please refer to our guide to claiming home office expenses.
How to claim square metre rate expenses in Solo
Once you have calculated the claimable amount, then follow these instruction to enter the claimable amount into Solo:
Go the Expenses page.
Click the + icon at the top right of the screen to manually enter a transaction.
Enter a transaction date that is within the financial year you want to claim the expenses for. E.g. March 30.
Select Square Metre Rate as the category for the transaction.
Save the transaction.
Note: You need to have a 'Home office area' percentage set in your tax settings before the 'Square Metre Rate' expense category can be displayed.
Your home office expenses will now be included in Solo's tax calculations and your generated tax return.