How To Claim Working From Home Tax Rebate: Complete Guide

Can I Claim Money for Working From Home During Covid?

Over the last couple of years, millions of people were told to work from home as a result of Covid-19.

This means that although commuting costs may have dropped for some, utility bills such as your gas, electricity and internet usage have more than likely gone up.

To help cover the added costs, HMRC is offering you to claim tax relief. It’s estimated that around three million people made a claim in the 2020-21 tax year.

When Is The Deadline To Apply for WFH Tax Relief?

If you worked from home during the last tax year but never got round to applying, fortunately, you still can as HMRC say they have no plans to close the online portal.

Is WFH Tax Relief Backdated?

Claims can be also backdated which means that you might be eligible to receive up to £280 tax relief if you claim both last and this year’s tax year.

HMRC confirmed that you have until the 5th April 2025 to make a claim for the 2020/21 tax year, and until the 5th April 2026 to make a claim for 2021/22.

Can I Apply For WFH Tax Relief?

Not everyone can claim home working tax relief, you need to ensure that you’re eligible by checking the following:

• You were instructed to work from home by your employer. If you chose to work from home then you cannot claim tax relief.

• Have had to pay higher utility costs as a result of working from home. However, you don’t actually need to show evidence of this.

• You must not have received expenses directly from your employer to cover the additional costs of working from home.

• If you pay tax by self-assessment then you can claim the tax rebate but it needs to be applied to your tax return rather than going through HMRC.

How Much WFH Tax Relief Can I Get?

To receive tax relief there are two options:

1. Expenses could be covered by your employer who then pays it into your wages tax-free.

2. You make the claim instead of it coming from HMRC.

Note that you won’t be able to claim tax relief if your employer is already paying your expenses.

How much you receive will depend on the rate of income tax you pay.

• For basic-rate taxpayers you will get £1.20 a week which is a tax relief of 20% on £6 (£62 per tax year).

• Higher-rate taxpayers will receive £2.40 a week which is a tax relief of 40% on £6 (£125 per tax year).

• A top-rate taxpayer will get £2.70 a week which is a tax relief of 45% on £6 (£140.40 per tax year).

Note: If you didn’t make a claim on the last tax year but worked from home then you're still able to backdate your claim.

This means in your next salary you would receive a full year’s payment in a lump sum. HMRC accepts backdated claims for up to four years.

How Do I Claim WFH Tax Relief?

To claim the working from home tax relief, you can head over to the government website and answer a few questions to see if you’re eligible.

You need your Government Gateway ID to proceed with your application. If you don’t have one, it’s not a problem, you can create one during the process.

You will also need your National Insurance number, a recent payslip or P60 or a valid UK passport.

Once you’re logged in, enter the date that you started working from home. If it has been since the start of the first lockdown which was March 23rd 2020, enter it and you will get a rebate for the whole of the tax year (6th April 2020 to 5th April 2021).

If you are also claiming for the tax year (6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022) and the previous tax year, you can claim for both years together.

It’s worth noting that if you have already claimed for the 2020/21 tax year then you will not automatically receive a refund for the 2021/22 tax year. In order to claim you must go through the government website to apply.

You won’t be able to use HMRC’s online portal if you do self-assessment, instead you’ll need to apply for the tax relief in your tax return.

Read our article for more information on what the HMRC tax rebate is.

Summary

So there you are. Hopefully, our working from home tax relief guide has given you a better insight into how to make a claim and whether you’re eligible to join the millions benefiting from working from home tax relief. For more information on claims, we at Money Back Helpdesk are happy to help.