The T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment, is the CRA form your employer completes and signs to confirm that your job required you to pay certain expenses yourself. Without it, you can't deduct employment expenses such as a home work space, vehicle costs or supplies on your Canadian tax return. You don't send it in: you keep it in case the CRA asks to see it.
The T2200 isn't something employees fill in. It's your employer's statement about the conditions of your job, and the CRA treats it as the gatekeeper for most employment expense claims. Everything below comes from the CRA's T2200 page and its T4044 guide to employment expenses for 2025.
Who completes it and what you do with it
- Ask your employer to complete and sign Form T2200 for the tax year. If you had more than one employer, ask each one for a separate form.
- Use the information on it to work out your claim on Form T777, Statement of Employment Expenses.
- Include Form T777 with your return if you file on paper. Don't include the T2200.
- Keep the signed T2200 with your records, along with receipts, in case the CRA asks for them.
The CRA says the fillable PDF must be downloaded and opened in Acrobat Reader 10 or later rather than in your browser, which is worth passing on to whoever fills it in at your workplace. Transport employees, such as airline, railway, bus or trucking staff, usually use Form TL2 for meals and lodging instead.
Home work space: the rules
For salaried employees, the T4044 says you can deduct work space costs only if your contract required you to pay them, they're used directly in your work, your employer hasn't reimbursed and won't reimburse you, and you meet one of these conditions:
- You worked more than 50% of the time from home for at least four consecutive weeks, or
- You use the space only to earn your employment income and use it regularly and continuously to meet clients, customers or other people for your job.
| Cost | Salaried employee | Commission employee |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity, heating, maintenance | Work space share deductible | Work space share deductible |
| Rent (if you rent your home) | Work space share deductible | Work space share deductible |
| Property taxes and home insurance | Not deductible | Work space share deductible |
| Mortgage interest and capital cost allowance | Not deductible | Not deductible |
Work out the share on a reasonable basis, such as the work space's area divided by the home's total finished area, including hallways, bathrooms and kitchens. Maintenance that only relates to rooms you don't work in (like painting a bedroom) can't be claimed at all.
The limit people hit
Work space expenses can't create or increase an employment loss. The deduction is capped at the employment income left after your other employment expenses, and only against income from that job. Anything you can't use carries forward to the next year, as long as you're reporting income from the same employer.
Commission employees: extra conditions
If you're paid partly or wholly by commission, you can deduct a wider range of expenses, but only if you meet all of these: your contract required you to pay your own expenses, you normally worked away from your employer's place of business, you were paid by commissions based on sales or contracts, you didn't receive a non-taxable travel allowance, and you keep a T2200 signed by your employer.
There's a cap here too. The T4044's example has expenses of $9,000 against commissions of $5,000: the claim is limited to $5,000 plus capital cost allowance of $1,500 and interest of $500, so $7,000. Claiming as a salaried employee instead would allow $6,000 of travel plus the same $1,500 and $500, for $8,000, though not the advertising costs (figures as of October 2026, from the 2025 guide).
Claiming back GST/HST too
If your employer is a GST/HST registrant and you're deducting employment expenses, you may be able to claim a rebate of the GST/HST you paid on those expenses using Form GST370, the Employee and Partner GST/HST Rebate Application. It's included with a paper return. It's easy to miss because it's a separate form, but it uses the same receipts as your T777 claim, so keep the tax amounts visible on every receipt.
Vehicle costs follow their own chapter of the T4044. The key record is a log showing total kilometres driven in the year and the kilometres driven for work, for each vehicle, because your claim is based on the work share. Parking goes on its own line of Form T777 rather than in vehicle expenses.
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Records the CRA expects
- A daily record of your expenses with receipts and any cancelled cheques, ticket stubs, invoices and credit card statements.
- For each vehicle you used for work, the total kilometres you drove and the kilometres driven for work in the year.
- Receipts showing the date, seller's name and address, your name and address, a full description, and the GST/HST you paid.
- Everything kept for at least six years from the end of the tax year it relates to.
Don't send records or receipts with your return; the CRA may reduce your claim if you can't produce them later. If you're also self-employed on the side, that income goes on Form T2125, not on your employment expense claim, and your employment income itself is on your T4 slip.
The verdict
If you work from home or pay your own job costs, ask for your T2200 early in the year, before your employer's payroll team is swamped. Check that it reflects your real conditions, then claim only the share of costs the rules allow. And keep it safe: it's the one document the CRA will ask for first.
Frequently asked questions
Do I send Form T2200 with my tax return?
No. You keep it with your records in case the CRA asks to see it. You include Form T777 with a paper return.
How long should I keep my T2200 and receipts?
Generally at least six years from the end of the tax year they relate to, according to the CRA's T4044 guide.
Who fills out the T2200?
Your employer completes and signs it. If you had more than one employer, each completes a separate form.
Can I claim home office expenses without a T2200?
Under the T4044 rules, you must keep a T2200 completed by your employer to deduct work-space-in-the-home expenses.
Can a salaried employee deduct property taxes for a home office?
No. Salaried employees can't deduct mortgage interest, property taxes, home insurance or capital cost allowance; commission employees can deduct the work space share of property taxes and insurance.
