Working From Home Tax Relief

Cptralls

Hi All, 

We received a message at work today advising that since we now work at home we need to apply for the relevant tax relief? Does anyone know what this is and how to apply for it?

Thanks in advance.

bradders1983

Well you dont "need" to apply for it, but first all all you need to apply for a Government Gateway ID (Google it). Once you have done that, you can apply for it (just google "working from home tax relief").

Dont spend the net £1.20 or £2.40 (higher rate taxpayers) per week all at once.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Cptralls said:

Hi All, 

We received a message at work today advising that since we now work at home we need to apply for the relevant tax relief? Does anyone know what this is and how to apply for it?

Thanks in advance.

What you need to do is get your employer to pay you £6/week tax free.

Alternatively you will have to settle for claiming tax relief on £6/week from HMRC which will only be worth between £0 and £3.60/week, but most likely £1.20/week or £2.40/week.

bradders1983

Given they have sent an email out saying that, I doubt asking their employer to pay it instead will go down well.

Grumpy_chap

This article may assist the OP:
https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

MFdreamer

You no longer need to register for self assessment to claim the £6 flat rate a week. Given the volume of claims expected due to Covid, HMRC have simplified it and you can now claim on the HMRC website if your employer hasn’t reimbursed you for any WFH costs.

I’m posting under a new user account so am not allowed to post links yet but if you Google “HMRC claim tax relief expenses working from home” it should take you the online form to claim.

You don’t *have* to claim it but given it sounds like your employer isn’t reimbursing your additional utility costs resulting from WFH then you’d be silly not to claim it. Yes it’s not a huge amount for most people but seems a no brainer to me given the low effort needed.

Saria

Sorry for tagging along on this thread, but I applied for this on the HMRC website and they have now sent me some form I need to fill in and asked to send over my contract as proof that I'm not working at home by choice... Has anyone else had this? 

I've been working from home for a few years as I'm the only employee in our company and we don't have an office. But this is not an option on the form they've sent me (which also doesn't contain a return envelope so I'm not sure where I'm supposed to send it to).

uknick

Saria, I assume you're a one shareholder, one director Ltd.  In that case the company needs to write to you stating you must work from home as there are no office facilities to work from.  This might seem strange but, don't forget a Ltd company is a separate legal entity from its employees.

Having said that, I find it strange your company hasn't been claiming an element of your house running costs as part of the legitimate expenditure of running the company from your home. 

nick74

As the sole owner and director of a limited company I just pay myself the £6 per week out of the company.  It goes through the company's P&L as an expense so the company gets corporation tax relief on it, and I'm not taxed on it as an individual. Avoids having to make a 'claim' as such to HMRC.

Saria

I am not the sole owner/director, I'm an employee. My boss and his wife are directors of the company. They don't pay me the £6 per week.

I find it strange though that HMRC is sending me this form, when the advice on MSE has been that anyone working from home during lockdown can claim for the full year even if they've only been working from home for a short time? 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

What exactly did you do to apply? 

Was it the micro service MSE refer to?

What date did you claim from?