Claim Tax Relief For Working From Home

If you have to work from home on a regular basis for either all or part of the week, you may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs.

 This includes if you have to work from home because of COVID-19, but isn’t applicable if you choose to work from home when you don’t have to.

How much you can claim

If you are eligible to claim, you can claim a flat rate of £6 a week from 6 April 2020. Prior to 6 April 2020, the weekly rate you can claim is £4. If you wish to do it this way, you will not need to keep evidence of your extra household costs.

Alternatively, you can claim the exact amount of extra household costs you’ve incurred, however you will need to provide evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts.

Additional costs include things like:

• Heating

• Metered water bills

• Home contents insurance

• Business calls or broadband connection

It does not include things that would stay the same cost whether you were working from home or your place of work, such as:

• Mortgage interest

• Rent

• Council tax

You may also be able to claim tax relief on any equipment you’ve had to purchase in order to work from home efficiently.

It is important to remember that you will get tax relief based on the rate at which you pay tax. So if you pay 20% basic rate of tax and claim the £6 a week, you would get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20% of £6).

For further information and to see if you are eligible to claim, please visit the HMRC website.

Adderley Hill & Co Team