Tax relief available for home working
23 October 2020
Officers and staff required to work from home due to the pandemic can apply to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for tax relief.
This is due to the extra costs incurred by home working including increased electricity and heating bills.
Since working out the costs can be difficult, a general rate of £6 a week is applied and you are entitled to the tax relief for the whole year even if you have only had to work from home for one day from 6 April this year.
More details on how to claim can be found in an article by MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis.
The tax relief is generally applied through an adjustment to your tax code unless you are already pay tax through the self-assessment process.
Martin Lewis comments: “If you believe you have higher increased costs than £6 a week, you can claim more but you will need evidence of the cost increases and be able to apportion these specifically to the fact you are working from home – and this becomes a much more laborious process.”
• Please remember tax is a personal liability and officers should always check what they are entitled to when HMRC sends through their tax codes for the following year to ensure any that become invalid are removed.
