Working from home - claim £18 a month

Owain_Moneysaver

Many employees are working remotely from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and experts predict household energy bills are likely to rise as a result.

Research by UtilityBidder shows that workers using a desktop computer could see their bills increase by at least £2.80 per month because desktops use 100 watts of energy every working day.

Laptop users, meanwhile, will be hit with a £1.40 increase to their monthly energy bills as Utility Bidder’s research reveals that they use 50 watts per day. And employees who need to charge their work mobile while at home will see an additional 12p added to their electricity bill.

If your employer enforces mandatory remote working because of the Covid-19 outbreak and UK Government advice, you may be able to claim these expenses back from your employer if you are remote working involuntarily and pay taxes, do not complete self-assessment forms and are not claiming back over £2,500 for a single tax year.

Workers will generally not be required to provide evidence of their gas and electricity usage, unless they are claiming more than £18 per month. Claiming back working from home expenses can be done online by submitting a P87 form 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-income-tax-relief-for-your-employment-expenses-p87
Ask your employer before claiming

Talldave

Owain_Moneysaver said:

Research by UtilityBidder shows that workers using a desktop computer could see their bills increase by at least £2.80 per month because desktops use 100 watts of energy every working day.

Laptop users, meanwhile, will be hit with a £1.40 increase to their monthly energy bills as Utility Bidder’s research reveals that they use 50 watts per day.

I'd say UtilityBidder don't know much about computers or energy!

The underlying message of claiming is valid though.

Gerry1

Owain_Moneysaver said:

desktops use 100 watts of energy every working day.

Utility Bidder’s research reveals that they use 50 watts per day.

No.  Watts are a unit of power.  If a device uses 100W, it's 100W full stop: it doesn't depend on time.   If the power consumption doesn't change (unlikely for a PC that's sleeping), it would use 2400Wh (2.4kWh) of energy per day.

D3xt3r5L4b

£2.80 per month!?
I'll jump right on that then... 

Owain_Moneysaver

Gerry1 said:

desktops use 100 watts of energy every working day.

Utility Bidder’s research reveals that they use 50 watts per day.

No.  Watts are a unit of power.  If a device uses 100W, it's 100W full stop: it doesn't depend on time.   If the power consumption doesn't change (unlikely for a PC that's sleeping), it would use 2400Wh (2.4kWh) of energy per day.

I know that but I should have read before quoting!

Boohoo

If you are working from home during this lockdown do you have to tell your home insurance about this change or not?

PasturesNew

You might/might not. Most will save more than that on travel costs ... and the convenience is lovely, saving commute time. 

I'd feel grateful to have a job.... I'd not risk queering my pitch and marking my card over a paltry £18/month even if it were law. 

Kitchen_Sink

Owain_Moneysaver said:

Many employees are working remotely from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and experts predict household energy bills are likely to rise as a result.

Research by UtilityBidder shows that workers using a desktop computer could see their bills increase by at least £2.80 per month because desktops use 100 watts of energy every working day.

Laptop users, meanwhile, will be hit with a £1.40 increase to their monthly energy bills as Utility Bidder’s research reveals that they use 50 watts per day. And employees who need to charge their work mobile while at home will see an additional 12p added to their electricity bill.

If your employer enforces mandatory remote working because of the Covid-19 outbreak and UK Government advice, you may be able to claim these expenses back from your employer if you are remote working involuntarily and pay taxes, do not complete self-assessment forms and are not claiming back over £2,500 for a single tax year.

Workers will generally not be required to provide evidence of their gas and electricity usage, unless they are claiming more than £18 per month. Claiming back working from home expenses can be done online by submitting a P87 form 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-income-tax-relief-for-your-employment-expenses-p87
Ask your employer before claiming

I'd say don't take financial advice from any Daily Mirror hack.

The figures themselves have already highlighted the quality, or lack of, in this report.

But the report also appears to conflate a number of issues.
1. The £18 is a monthly limit an employer may pay an employee for essential homeworking without  the employee incurring tax/NI on that payment. It is to cover all home expenses (except business phone calls) not just gas & electricity.
2. It's entirely up to the employer what expenses they pay their employee, and what receipts they may or may not require.
3. HMRC do NOT pay expenses; they provide for tax relief allowance.
So even if you are successful in claiming the full whack as an allowable expense, that would only equate to a £3.60 pcm tax reduction for a basic rate taxpayer.
4. Claiming tax allowance for use of your home may affect other tax liabilities, possibly business rates being applied, or a different tax treatment of your home when you sell it (which is otherwise usually disregarded if it is your main residence)

This is not intended as a complete list of implications/errors, nor indeed is it necessarily 100% accurate.
But at least do your own research first!

And if you are really paying 17.5p/kWh (which I think the figures are probably supposed to be based upon), please consult a comparison site and get yourself a much better deal.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity/
You can probably save about 30% on your electricity bill, which for an average user, would equate to about £150 per year (and hopefully you'll save yourself a packet on you gas too)

Swipe

Boohoo said:

If you are working from home during this lockdown do you have to tell your home insurance about this change or not?

I wouldn't tell them anything unless you are running a registered business from home.

Talldave

We should all be due a reduction on our insurance premiums if our houses are occupied 24/7.
And I do know whether my locks are BS3621...!

Richie-from-the-Boro

BS3621 🤓 like that.