Due to the ongoing restrictions of the Government’s Coronavirus response, millions of UK workers continue to work from home.
Many may not be aware that they can claim tax relief for additional household costs if they are required to work from home regularly, either for all or part of the week.
Although this relief was only intended to last one year, the Government has confirmed that it will be extended into the current tax year in light of the current requirements for many workers.
However, this tax relief is not available to those who choose to work from home, only those that must do so.
This tax relief, launched last year, has been designed to cover additional costs, such as heating, metered water bills, home contents insurance, business calls or a new broadband connection.
Workers may also be able to claim tax relief on equipment used in their job, such as a laptop or mobile phone, details of which can be found here.
However, the tax relief available does not cover costs that would stay the same whether a person was working at home or in an office, such as mortgage interest, rent or council tax.
Workers can either claim tax relief at a rate of:
- £6 a week – no evidence is required to make this claim.
- the exact amount of extra costs incurred above this weekly amount – this will need to be evidenced with receipts, bills or contracts.
Taxpayers get tax relief based on the rate at which they pay tax. For basic rate taxpayers (taxed at 20 per cent), for example, claiming £6 a week would mean they receive £1.20 per week in tax relief.
Employees can claim this relief by clicking here. They will need to use or set up a Government Gateway ID using their National Insurance number and information from their P60 form.
Remembers some benefits and expenses provided by your business may be taxable and need to be payrolled or reported by a P11D form. The deadline for P11D submissions is 6 July.
If you have any queries about staff expenses, whether they are related to working from home or not, please contact your Seymour Taylor representative today or email enquiries@stca.co.uk or call 01494552100.
This blog is for guidance only, professional advice should be obtained before acting on any information contained herein. The information was correct at the time of publishing 27 May 2021.