Martin Lewis: Working from home due to coronavirus, even for a day? Claim TWO years' worth of tax re

tuck60

If you are working at home and put a claim in will our employer be made aware of it ?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

tuck60 said:

If you are working at home and put a claim in will our employer be made aware of it ?

Not directly no but they will be sent your new tax code so will know something has changed but not what.

They only get sent details of the code number i.e. 1270L, not how the 1270 has been calculated.

james_williamson_6544

my employer asked 75% of the staff to work from home and remaining 25% to come on site due to nature of their work
this stopped at 31 aug bank holiday when from 1 sep everyone returned to work
I was in that 75% - so i believe i can claim this tax relief
for the current tax year, this equates to 21 weeks  - however i was on holiday during 1 week. does this mean i can only claim tax relief of 120 pounds ? (20 x 6 = 120)
also i have spent some time going through bills, and my actual "extra" cost was around 95 pounds during this period.

moral dilemma - should i put 95 or 120 or 126 .... goal is smooth process of the claim without having to provide any documentation.

james_williamson_6544

dkhalai said:

I fill in a Tax Return every year (about to submit my 2019-2020) next few weeks.
Can someone confirm which section in the Tax return can I claim expenses for working 3 weeks (16 March 2020 to 5 April 2020 = £6 x 3 weeks = 18)?

4 x 3 = 12

Dazed_and_C0nfused

james_williamson_6544 said:

my employer asked 75% of the staff to work from home and remaining 25% to come on site due to nature of their work
this stopped at 31 aug bank holiday when from 1 sep everyone returned to work
I was in that 75% - so i believe i can claim this tax relief
for the current tax year, this equates to 21 weeks  - however i was on holiday during 1 week. does this mean i can only claim tax relief of 120 pounds ? (20 x 6 = 120)
also i have spent some time going through bills, and my actual "extra" cost was around 95 pounds during this period.

moral dilemma - should i put 95 or 120 or 126 .... goal is smooth process of the claim without having to provide any documentation.

You have misunderstood.  It is tax relief on £120 so the actual tax saving is likely to be £24.  Could be less, could be more, depends on what your total income ends up being for this tax year.

hufc2002

Can I submit this claim if still working from home or do I need to wait until I permanently return to the office?

cygnuscanary

I have two part time jobs. One is working from home (4hrs) and always will be. The other (8hrs) permits me to work from home with an expectation that I would go in sometimes under normal circumstances. When it comes to claiming is it still £6 per week even though I only work the equivalent of around 2 days a week? And which employer do I claim it from? I’ve paid tax on a full time position for the past six months so currently do fall over the threshold per annum but if I remain on 12 hours beyond April I won’t. I take it I can’t claim £6 a week from both part time employers?

jt64

hufc2002 said:

Can I submit this claim if still working from home or do I need to wait until I permanently return to the office?

Submit your claim for the 19/20 tax year (up to 5th Apr) now. I'd wait until either your employer stops telling you to wfh (ha!) or the end of the 20/21 tax year to submit the claim for your wfh post April 6th.

jt64

cygnuscanary said:

I have two part time jobs. One is working from home (4hrs) and always will be. The other (8hrs) permits me to work from home with an expectation that I would go in sometimes under normal circumstances. When it comes to claiming is it still £6 per week even though I only work the equivalent of around 2 days a week? And which employer do I claim it from? I’ve paid tax on a full time position for the past six months so currently do fall over the threshold per annum but if I remain on 12 hours beyond April I won’t. I take it I can’t claim £6 a week from both part time employers?

If the 2nd employer has told you to wfh then you should be OK to claim even for just the 8h. You don't claim from either employer, you're claiming it to reduce your tax with HMRC.  Do you have other income though from your 12h/week - if your income is less than the £12,500 personal allowance and thus you don't pay tax claiming the £6/week won't reduce your tax as you're not paying any.  It's not £6 per week claimed, it's £6 per week you don't pay tax on.

jt64

Julie_Dervey said:

As a primary school teacher, I routinely work regular hours (often in excess of my actual teaching hours) whilst at home. So, may I claim for relief of £6/week backdated to previous years?

Nope!
The criteria is not whether you work from home, it's whether your employer tells you to work from home. If you could have done the work at the school but chose to do it at home that's your choice.