How to make a Claim

It’s very straightforward. You don’t need to start looking for lots of old receipts or expenses. HMRC have a portal dedicated to applying for working from home tax relief. To claim for the working from home tax relief:

• Go to the government’s portal and answer the eligibility questions

• You will need your Government Gateway ID to proceed with your application. If you don’t have one, you can create one during the process (you’ll need your NI number and a recent payslip or valid UK passport)

• Once logged in, state the date you started working from home (23 March 2020 if you have been working from home since the start of lockdown). If you enter the first lockdown date, you will get a rebate for two whole tax years + two weeks extra.

Note: If you do self-assessment, you won’t be able to use HMRC’s online portal; instead apply for the tax relief in your tax return.

Am I Eligible?

If you were required to work from home during the pandemic and your employer didn’t cover your expenses (phone, broadband, gas, electricity etc.,), then you are eligible to claim tax relief for the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 tax years.

If you didn’t claim for the last tax year or the one before but worked from home, you can backdate your claim. This means you would get up to two full years’ payment as a lump sum in your next salary.

If you are eligible to claim for the current tax year too, that’s three years of tax rebates, meaning:

• Basic-rate taxpayers could receive as much as £187.20

• Higher-rate taxpayers could get up to £374.40

• Top-rate taxpayers could receive up to £421.20

HMRC will accept backdated claims for up to four years.

It’s also worth noting that working-from-home tax relief is an individual benefit, so a couple or a group of flatmates can all claim it if you are all working from home.

How will I receive my tax relief?

Where an employee meets the criteria to claim tax relief for working from home and makes a claim for previous years, HMRC will issue a tax refund. This is usually in the form of a cheque.

If you are claiming for the current tax year, then you will pay less tax when you are paid. This means your tax code will change.

Can I claim for this year too?

Although working from home is no longer a legal requirement, you can claim tax relief for this year too if you must work from home, for example because:

• your job requires you to live far away from your office

• your employer does not have an office

You cannot claim tax relief if you have simply chosen to work from home. This includes if:

• your employment contract lets you work from home some or all of the time

• you work from home because of COVID-19

• your employer has an office, but you cannot go there sometimes because it’s full

It’s important to note that to claim tax relief, you cannot have chosen to work from home. So, if you are hybrid working, you can only claim tax relief if there is a lack of appropriate facilities on your employer’s premises to do your job.

Best wishes,

Team FAT