Can you still claim working from home tax relief as an employee?

It’s been four years since the first lockdown in the UK. As COVID restrictions have been lifted so has the eligibility for claiming the working from home allowance. It’s therefore important to check whether you as an employee are still eligible to make a claim for working from home.

Requirements to claim the relief

From 6 April 2022, employees can still claim the relief for working from home, but only in very specific circumstances. You can only claim tax relief if you must work from home, for example, if your employer doesn’t have an office, or your employer instructs you to do so.

You can’t claim tax relief if you choose to work from home, for example, your employer lets you work from home for some or all of the time. Additionally, it’s important to note that from 2022/23 onwards, you’re unable to claim the relief if you’re required to work from home due to COVID. You can, however, still claim this tax relief for the years 2020/21 and 2021/22 through Self Assessment or a P87a as most people were required to work from home during these periods.

You can check if you’re eligible to claim here.

What you can claim for:       

• Utility bills such as gas, electricity, and water
• Business phone calls

The expenses must be incurred wholly and exclusively to perform the employee’s duties. You can’t claim expenses for both business and private use – so usually a business percentage of these costs will be claimed.

How much you can claim for 

You can claim either:

• A flat rate of £6 per week from 6 April 2020 (you won’t need to record evidence for the flat rate claim); or
• The exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred if they’re above £6 flat rate (evidence will need to be recorded for these amounts).

Please note that if any of these costs are reimbursed by your employer, you can’t claim the tax relief.  

You will receive tax relief on the amount claimed at the rate you pay tax, for example, if you were to claim the flat rate at £6 per week:

How to claim the relief 

You may be able to claim this relief by asking HMRC to adjust your tax code (you can apply for this online/over the phone, or by submitting a P87 form by post to HMRC)

You can also get in touch with a member of our specialist tax team if you’re in Self Assessment, as we can help you make the claim on your tax return.  

Need help?

If you’d like advice on claiming working from home relief or have any other tax queries, contact your usual Larking Gowen advisor or email enquiry@larking-gowen.co.uk to get in touch with our team. Additionally, you can visit the Contact us section of our website for more ways to get in touch.

Toby Last