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If you have to work from home either on a full time or part time basis, you may be eligible to claim tax relief on some of your additional costs. If you choose to work from home, you cannot make a claim. The relief is applicable to those who are potentially having to now work from home due to Coronavirus restrictions, or where your company may have put this policy in place on a temporary basis during the Pandemic.

From 6 April 2020 the relief is applicable to £6.00 a week of your additional expenses, though the actual relief you can claim is dependent on the rate of income tax you pay. When making a claim for tax relief on the basis of additional household expenses, you can join in any other claims you may have for expenses related to your employment, such as professional fees and subscriptions, uniform costs and equipment you have had to purchase in order to work from home.

You cannot claim for any expenses which would have been the same whether or not you were working at home (usual heating and electricity costs, council tax rent etc), it is only the balance above your usual expenses. Similarly, if your employer has provided you with an allowance for these costs or has agreed to reimburse you for the expenses, you cannot make a claim for tax relief.

The GOV UK website has a simple questionnaire you can complete, to see whether you would be eligible for the relief. If you are, you will need to create a Government Gateway ID, National Insurance Number, and your Passport or a recent payslip in order to make a claim online. HMRC are taking several weeks to process claims at the moment, as they are focussing on Furlough claims from companies, but they will notify you whether or not your claim has been successful.

Use the government website link below to see if you can make a claim:-

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/claim-tax-relief-expenses/only-claiming-working-from-home-tax-relief?_ga=2.194168683.730164950.1606225949-15180037.1600445050