The small things an office runs through are deductible in the year you buy them. On Form T2125, they go on line 8810, Office expenses.
What belongs here
The cost of office expenses that are generally not related to your workspace — small items such as:
- pens and pencils
- paper clips
- stationery
- stamps
What does not belong here
Anything that lasts. Office expenses do not include capital expenditures to acquire capital property, such as calculators, filing cabinets, chairs, and desks. These are capital items: their cost comes off over several years through capital cost allowance (CCA), the yearly deduction for property that wears out.
Items the business uses to provide its goods or services. Those are workspace supplies, and they go on line 8811, office stationery and supplies.
The two supply lines are the other way round
The names invite a mix-up, and it is worth reading them slowly. Line 8810 is for small items not related to your workspace — the desk drawer things. Line 8811 is for what the business consumes doing the work itself, such as a plumber's cleaning supplies. Some bookkeeping habits assume the reverse; the CRA's wording is what the form goes by.
What to keep
Keep a record of all your income and expenses, with the documents behind them. A stationery or postage receipt showing the seller, the date, and what was bought is enough for this line.
Where the same receipt covers both small supplies and something lasting — a box of pens and a desk chair on one till slip — keep the itemized version, not just the total. That is the receipt that lets the capital item be separated out when you file.
Don't send them in with your return. Keep them in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks to see them. Business records follow the same six-year retention rule as your personal documents.
Official CRA sources
Source: Canada Revenue Agency (canada.ca). Not tax advice.