If you have to work from home on a regular basis, either for all or part of a week, you may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs.
From 6 April 2020, employers have been able to pay employees up to £6 a week tax-free to cover additional costs if they have had to work from home.
Employees who have not received the working from home expenses payment direct from their employer can apply to receive the tax relief from HMRC.
If you made a claim for tax relief during the 2020/21 tax year then you will need to make a new claim for the 2021/22 tax year.
You may be able to claim tax relief for:
It is important to note that you cannot make a claim for the whole bill, just the part that relates to your work. When you make the claim, you will be asked to demonstrate the additional costs such as heating, metered water bills or business telephone calls that were incurred as a direct result of working from home.
The working from home tax relief is an individual benefit. If you live with others who also have to work from home, they are able to claim for the tax relief too.
If you have had to purchase equipment to be able to effectively work from home such as a laptop, office chair or mobile phone then you may also be able to claim tax relief on these items.
How much you can claim
You can either claim tax relief on:
- £6 a week from 6 April 2020
- the exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred above the weekly amount – you will need to provide evidence to support this such as receipts, bills or contracts
You’ll get tax relief based on the rate at which you pay tax.
For example, if you pay the 20% basic rate of tax and claim tax relief on £6 a week you would get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20% of £6).
A higher, or 40% rate taxpayer can get £2.40 worth of tax relief a week if they claim for the £6 a week worth of extra costs incurred by working from home.
If you have any questions on working from home tax relief, please do not hesitate to contact us.
