T2200 form: do you need one if you're self-employed?
The T2200 form, Declaration of Conditions of Employment, is a form an employer fills out and signs. It confirms that an employee had to pay some work costs out of their own pocket, so the employee can claim them. If you work for yourself, you don't need a T2200. You claim your home office, vehicle and other business expenses yourself, on form T2125, when you file your return.
The short version
- The T2200 is an employer's form. It lets an employee claim work costs the job made them pay.
- If you work for yourself, nobody signs a T2200 for you, and you don't need one. Your expenses go on form T2125.
- If you have a job and a business, the T2200 covers the job only. Keep the two sets of expenses apart.
What is the T2200 form?
The T2200 is CRA's Declaration of Conditions of Employment. In plain terms, the employer is saying: this person's job required them to pay for certain things, and we didn't pay them back.
With a signed T2200, an employee can claim those costs as employment expenses on form T777 when they file. The usual ones are a home office, a car used for work, and supplies.
Who fills it out, and where it goes
The employer completes and signs it. The employee doesn't send it in with their return. They keep it in case CRA asks to see it. CRA's T2200 form page has the current version and explains what each question covers.
Do you need a T2200 if you're self-employed?
No. A T2200 only exists where there's an employer. Say you invoice clients, get paid without tax taken off and don't get a T4. Then there's no employer to sign one, and you don't need anyone's sign-off to claim your business expenses.
You claim them on form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities, which goes in with your T1 return.
T2200 and T2125 side by side
| Employee | Self-employed | |
|---|---|---|
| Form for the expenses | T777 | T2125 |
| Who signs off | The employer, on the T2200 | No one. You claim them yourself |
| What you keep | The signed T2200, plus receipts | Receipts, invoices and a record of your trips |
| Where it shows on the return | Line 22900, other employment expenses | Your business income, after expenses |
Where your home office and vehicle expenses go instead
CRA's guide to business and professional income (T4002) sets out the rules for both. Here's the short version.
Home office
You can claim part of your home costs if the space is your main place of business. You can also claim if you use it only for your business and meet clients there regularly. The costs include your share of rent or mortgage interest, heat, electricity, home insurance, property taxes and maintenance. Most people work out their share by floor area.
One limit: home office expenses can't create or increase a business loss. If you can't use some of them this year, you carry them forward to next year, so they aren't lost.
Example: A massage therapist in Halifax rents a two-bedroom apartment. One room, about 15% of the floor space, is used only as a treatment room, and clients come every week. She can claim 15% of her rent, heat, electricity and tenant insurance on her T2125. There's no T2200 involved. If she also worked shifts at a clinic as an employee, that job would be a separate question.
Vehicle
If you drive for your business, you claim the business share of fuel, insurance, repairs, licence and registration, plus lease payments or loan interest. The business share is the kilometres you drove for business divided by all the kilometres you drove.
That's why a record of your trips matters: the date, where you went, why and how far. Driving from home to one regular workplace usually doesn't count. Runs to clients, suppliers and job sites usually do.
If you have a job and a business
Plenty of people have both: a T4 job, plus their own clients on evenings and weekends. Here's how it splits:
- The T2200 covers the job only, and only if that employer required you to pay the costs.
- Everything for your own business goes on your T2125.
- A single cost can't be claimed twice. If one room or one car serves both, decide which part belongs to the job and which to the business, then claim each part once.
What to do now
- Check how you're paid. If a payer gives you a T4, any T2200 question belongs to that job. If you invoice and get paid in full, it doesn't apply to you.
- If you have a job where you paid your own costs, ask your employer for a signed T2200 before you file. Asking early helps. March is when everyone else asks too.
- For your business, pull together this year's home costs and receipts while the year is still open.
- Start a record of your trips if you don't have one. If you've driven for work and logged nothing, you can rebuild it from your calendar, invoices and receipts.
- Keep everything for six years. That's how long CRA's record-keeping rules ask you to hold on to them.
- Put two dates in your calendar. For your 2026 return, you have until June 15, 2027 to file because you're self-employed, but any balance is due April 30, 2027. Interest starts on an unpaid balance after April 30, so paying by then avoids it, even if you file in June. CRA's important dates for individuals lists both.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a T2200 if you're self-employed?
No. The T2200 is signed by an employer, and when you work for yourself there isn't one. You claim your business expenses yourself on form T2125.
Who signs the T2200 form?
The employer fills it out and signs it. The employee can't sign it for themselves, and a client can't sign one for a contractor.
Do you send the T2200 with your tax return?
No. The employee keeps the signed form with their records and shows it to CRA if CRA asks for it.
Can you claim a home office without a T2200?
If you're self-employed, yes. You claim it on your T2125, as long as the space meets the conditions in CRA's T4002 guide. If you're an employee, you generally need a signed T2200 now that the temporary flat-rate method is no longer available.
Is the T2200 the same as the T2201 or T2202?
No. The T2201 is the Disability Tax Credit Certificate, and the T2202 is the tuition slip your school issues. Neither one has anything to do with work expenses.
What's a TD1 form, and do you need one?
A TD1 tells an employer which tax credits to use when they take tax off your pay. If nobody pays you through payroll, there's no TD1 to fill out. Your credits get applied when you file your return.