Many employed persons will have spent a large chunk of the current tax year, 2020-21, working from home due to COVID restrictions. HMRC will accept a claim to cover any additional costs you may have incurred.
Must be required to work from home
You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work at home on a regular basis, either for all or part of the week. This includes if you have to work from home because of coronavirus (COVID-19).
You cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home.
Costs you can recover
Additional costs you can reclaim include heating, metered water bills, home contents insurance, business calls or a new broadband connection. They do not include costs that would stay the same whether you were working at home or in an office, such as mortgage interest, rent or council tax.
How much can you claim
You have two choices:
- Claim £6 a week from 6 April 2020 (for previous tax years the rate is £4 a week) – you will not need to keep evidence of your extra costs.
- Or claim the exact amount of extra costs you have incurred above the weekly amount – you will need evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts.
You will 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).
Buying equipment
You can only claim tax relief for equipment expenses if you need it to do your job and you use the equipment for work and there is no significant private use – this includes using the equipment according to your organisation’s policy.
If your employer gives you money to compensate
Reduce the amount you claim tax relief on by the amount of money your employer gives you as an allowance to cover working from home or to buy equipment.
To make a claim
We can help you make a claim if and when we complete your tax return for 2020-21.
If you don’t submit a tax return you may need to call HMRC to discuss how to claim.