Working From Home? Do Not Forget to Claim

How Much Working from Home Tax Relief Could I Get?

The amount of work from home tax relief you receive, will depend on the tax bracket you fall into. From April 2020, you can claim £6 per week, which has risen from £4 for previous tax years. There is a possibility that you could get more, but you will need to be able to evidence additional expenses with receipts of purchase.

Whilst you can claim £6 per week for work from home tax relief, you will not get the full £6. As we previously mentioned, it will depend on the tax bracket that you fall into. We have listed some examples below, to give you an idea of what you could be eligible for.

What Can I Claim Working from Home Tax Relief For?

You can only claim working from home tax relief for things that are required for your work, such as business calls made from your personal phone and gas and electricity for your work area. You cannot claim for things that you use for private and business purposes, such as rent or broadband access – it would be impossible to determine the percentage of these were used for business purposes.

You should keep all bills, receipts, or contracts for anything you have had to purchase for business use as you will need to provide evidence if you wish to claim more than the standard £6 per week work from home tax relief. If you cannot provide evidence, your claim will be rejected.

Can I Claim Working from Home Tax Relief If I Am Self-Employed?

Yes, you can but in a slightly different way. You will need to do this via your self-assessment tax return. You will need your government ID and password to access your self-assessment account. You cannot use the HMRC tax relief microservice to make your claim for working for home tax relief; you will simply be redirected to sign into the government gateway service.

When you use the microservice to start your claim, you will still need to sign into the gateway. If you do not currently have an account, the HMRC states that it should only take approximately 10 minutes to create one. You will need a national insurance number, as well as a recent payslip, P60 or UK passport.

To claim the work from home tax rebate on your self-assessment, see section 20 on the full return or section 2.5 on the short form. This will enable you to claim for the year. You can make corrections to previous returns for up to 12 months after submitting them.

Who is Not Eligible for Work from Home Tax Relief?

There are some people that will not be eligible for a work from home tax rebate. To be eligible, your employer must have specifically told you to work from home – it cannot have been a decision you made. This could be for a few reasons. You can only claim for specific expenses that you have incurred.

If your employer is already paying you a work from home allowance, or reimbursing you for additional expenses, you will not be able to claim working from home tax relief on top of this. Whilst you do not need to provide evidence, making a false claim for working from home tax relief could land you in hot water.

Who is Eligible for WFH Tax Relief?

The criteria for claiming working from home tax relief is surprisingly simple. What makes it even easier, is that you do not have to provide evidence unless you are planning to claim for additional expenses. So, who is eligible to claim tax back for working at home? At least one of the following statements must apply to you to be able to claim.

• Your employer instructed you to work from home. You did not choose to do so yourself
• You have incurred increased utility costs because of working from home
• You have had to make additional purchases (e.g., phone credit/increase in minutes)
• Your employer is not reimbursing you for any additional costs or providing a work from home allowance
• You have not already applied for working from home tax relief

How is Working from Home Tax Relief Paid?

Usually, your tax code will be amended to ensure you pay less tax throughout the year. It is important to keep an eye on your tax code once you have received your work from home tax rebate, as you could receive a surprise tax bill if it is not amended back to your standard tax code afterwards. Backdated claims can be paid in a lump sum in your salary.

If you are making a working from home tax relief claim through self-assessment, this is usually put towards your next tax years return to reduce how much you pay next year. You can also choose to receive the money back by an alternative method, such as bank transfer.

Where Do I Claim Work from Home Tax Rebate?

You can start your claim on the microservice page. You will be asked a few questions to get started on your claim. If you are eligible, you will be guided through the process until you have completed your application. You can also apply by answering a few questions at the top of this page.

If you are self-employed, you will need to sign into the government gateway and complete your tax return, filling out the relevant section for working from home tax relief. This falls under the ‘other expenses’ section. Provided you are eligible, you will be able to choose how you receive the money that you are eligible for from your claim.

You will need to make a separate claim for the current year if you have already made a claim for previous years, as this is not automatically paid for subsequent years, and you could miss what you are entitled to.

For more information on how to claim working from home tax relief, read our blog.

What is the Deadline for Making a WFH Tax Rebate Claim?

It is often easier to make a claim as soon as possible, whilst information is still fresh in your mind. Having said that, you have until April 5^th, 2025, to make a claim for working from home tax relief for the 2020/21 tax year, and until April 5^th, 2026, to claim for the 2021/22 tax year.

If you plan to claim for additional expenses, we advise you to do so sooner rather than later. This way there is less chance of paperwork being lost or dates forgotten. For more information on working from home tax rebate read our article.

Summary

Hopefully, after reading our working from home tax relief guide, you will have a better understanding of what working from home tax relief is and who is eligible to receive it. You will also have an insight of what you can claim for and how to claim, whether you are employed or self-employed.

If you're still left with questions read our other articles or contact us.