Can I deduct my cell phone on T2125?

The business share of it. Guide T4002 lets you deduct the part of cellular airtime that reasonably relates to earning self-employment income. A home landline basic rate is not deductible; long-distance business calls and a separate business line are.

Where do Uber or DoorDash service fees go?

They are a cost of earning the income, so they are deductible. They are not named on any specific line; many drivers list them under other expenses (line 9270) with a description such as "platform service fees". Report your gross fares before the fee on line 3A.

Can I deduct a computer or phone I bought for the business?

Not as an expense in the year you buy it. It is a capital item: you claim capital cost allowance (CCA) on it over several years, on line 9936. Software subscriptions and minor repairs are ordinary expenses.

What can I not deduct?

Your own salary or drawings, personal and family use of goods, charitable donations and political contributions, interest and penalties on income tax, most life insurance premiums, the personal part of any expense, and most fines and penalties.

T2125 expenses list

Which business expenses go on which T2125 line: advertising, meals at 50%, phone, supplies, platform fees, car, home office, CCA, and what CRA does not allow.

Last updated: 2026-10-31

Enter only the business part of each expense. If you are registered for GST/HST and claim input tax credits, leave the GST/HST out. If you use the quick method, include it. Line numbers follow Form T2125 E (25), the same as the 2024 form.

Everyday business costs

8521 Advertising: online ads, flyers, business cards, a website you pay for to promote the business.
8523 Meals and entertainment: you claim 50% of what you spent (80% for long-haul truck drivers on eligible trips). Entertainment includes event tickets, cover charges and gratuities.
8690 Insurance: business insurance such as liability or equipment cover. Car insurance goes in the car chart; home insurance goes in the home-office part.
8710 Interest and bank charges: interest on money borrowed for the business and business account fees.
8760 Business taxes, licences, and memberships: business licences, trade association dues, subscriptions to trade publications. Not clubs whose main purpose is dining, recreation or sport.
8810 Office expenses: small items such as pens, paper and stamps. A desk, chair or filing cabinet is a capital item (CCA).
8811 Office stationery and supplies: items used to provide your goods or services, such as cleaning supplies for a cleaner.
8860 Professional fees: accountants, lawyers and other professional advice, including preparing your income tax and GST/HST returns.
8871 Management and administration fees.
8910 Rent: rent for a shop, office or storage outside your home.
8960 Repairs and maintenance: labour and materials for minor repairs to business property. Not the value of your own labour, and not improvements (those are capital).
9060 Salaries, wages, and benefits: what you pay employees, plus your employer share of CPP and EI. Never your own pay or drawings.
9200 Travel: transport and hotels on business trips; meals on the trip go on 8523 at 50%.
9220 Utilities: business telephone and internet, and utilities for business premises. Only the business share of a cell phone plan.
9224 Fuel costs: fuel for equipment, not for your car.
9275 Delivery, freight, and express: shipping and courier costs.
9270 Other expenses: anything that fits no line above, listed with a description. Common examples: platform service fees and commissions, software subscriptions, up to two conventions a year, leased computer or phone equipment (business share).

Car: line 9281

Add up the year's fuel and oil, insurance, licence and registration, maintenance and repairs, loan interest and eligible lease payments. Multiply by business kilometres divided by total kilometres. Then add business parking and supplementary business insurance at 100%. Two caps apply to passenger vehicles: loan interest (Chart B: $350 a month for vehicles bought after 2023, $300 for those bought earlier, from 2001) and lease payments (Chart C). Driving between home and a regular place of business is personal. Keep a logbook.

Home office: line 9945

Only if the workspace is your principal place of business, or you use it only for the business and regularly meet clients there. Take the year's heat, electricity, insurance, maintenance, mortgage interest (not principal), property taxes and rent, and claim the workspace share. If the room is also lived in, reduce by the hours a day it is used for the business. The claim cannot create or increase a loss; the rest carries forward. CCA on your home can affect the principal residence exemption, so most people skip it.

Equipment: line 9936 (CCA)

Computers, phones, furniture, tools and vehicles you buy are capital property. You deduct them over time as capital cost allowance, class by class, in Area A of the form. Tax software walks you through it.

Not deductible

From Guide T4002:

your own salary or drawings
goods from the business that you or your family used
donations to charities and political contributions
interest and penalties on your income tax
most life insurance premiums
the personal part of any expense
most fines and penalties

Put it together

The T2125 worksheet asks for each of these in plain words, applies the 50% meals rule, the car interest cap and the home-office limit, and gives you every line number with its amount. The summary is free; the full worksheet is $29. For the whole form, see how to fill out T2125.

Source: CRA Guide T4002, Chapter 3 (Expenses), and Form T2125. General information, not tax advice.

What you get

Sample T2125 worksheet: summary and line-by-line amounts for CRA Form T2125 — Sample packet with made-up data. Yours is filled with your own answers.