Working from home tax relief - office equipment purchases?

Jeremy535897

The condition that the expense must be necessarily incurred is the issue. Expenditure incurred to put you in the position of doing your job is not necessarily incurred for this definition. HMRC take the view that anything necessary would normally be met by the employer. I don't think it is worth a claim.

sheramber

have you read the above posts explaining the requirements for claiming?

unholyangel

Jeremy535897 said:

The condition that the expense must be necessarily incurred is the issue. Expenditure incurred to put you in the position of doing your job is not necessarily incurred for this definition. HMRC take the view that anything necessary would normally be met by the employer. I don't think it is worth a claim.

It's not that it's not necessarily incurred. The expense may be necessary but if it's incurred to put you into the position to perform your duties then it's not incurred in actually performing the duties as required by eim31650.

Wording of s336, of course, says:

(b)the amount is incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties of the employment.

lisyloo

Jeremy535897 said:

cjmerritt7 said:

Thanks all, think I'll just stick to the £6/week tax relief.  Seems there is a grey area over whether the purchases could be considered as essential, ie could not do my job without them - or chosen to buy for personal/comfort reasons working from home for a prolonged time.  Likewise, bought to use for working from home whilst being told to work from home by employer.  But once return to the office - say mid-2021, the desk/chair/screen would then be used for personal use, study and/or other family members and occasional work from home afterwards - not exclusive to one or the other.  For those that suggested the capital allowance, I'm not self-employed so have no business assets that the home office could be considered against.  I have main salaried employment taxed at source and only have to do self assessment for a small amount of rental income for a property I jointly own.  So having to claim via self-assessment rather than the HMRC microsite.  Cheers.     

For the benefit of others, what you describe as a grey area is actually the rule: the first qualifies (assuming you are obliged by your employer to work from home), the second doesn't. Capital allowances apply whether you are employed or self employed, but with the distinction for the self employed that there is no "necessarily" requirement (which is logical as the only person involved in the purchase decision is the self employed person). If you were self employed, you could claim the business proportion of the cost of the furniture, but would have to treat it as sold at market value if you stopped using it for business.

Can someone just clear this up for me (curiosity - I didn’t buy anything).
is decent health and safety consider a necessity for doing your job?
e.g. Things like a foot rest, proper lift and tilt chair.
Given what I’ve come across in the office e.g. work area assessment, I would have said yes.
Lots of us could do our jobs with a laptop on the sofa but it wouldn’t meet the normal standards that your employer would apply in the office and could obviously result in higher costs longer term.

unholyangel

lisyloo said:

Jeremy535897 said:

cjmerritt7 said:

Thanks all, think I'll just stick to the £6/week tax relief.  Seems there is a grey area over whether the purchases could be considered as essential, ie could not do my job without them - or chosen to buy for personal/comfort reasons working from home for a prolonged time.  Likewise, bought to use for working from home whilst being told to work from home by employer.  But once return to the office - say mid-2021, the desk/chair/screen would then be used for personal use, study and/or other family members and occasional work from home afterwards - not exclusive to one or the other.  For those that suggested the capital allowance, I'm not self-employed so have no business assets that the home office could be considered against.  I have main salaried employment taxed at source and only have to do self assessment for a small amount of rental income for a property I jointly own.  So having to claim via self-assessment rather than the HMRC microsite.  Cheers.     

For the benefit of others, what you describe as a grey area is actually the rule: the first qualifies (assuming you are obliged by your employer to work from home), the second doesn't. Capital allowances apply whether you are employed or self employed, but with the distinction for the self employed that there is no "necessarily" requirement (which is logical as the only person involved in the purchase decision is the self employed person). If you were self employed, you could claim the business proportion of the cost of the furniture, but would have to treat it as sold at market value if you stopped using it for business.

Can someone just clear this up for me (curiosity - I didn’t buy anything).
is decent health and safety consider a necessity for doing your job?
e.g. Things like a foot rest, proper lift and tilt chair.
Given what I’ve come across in the office e.g. work area assessment, I would have said yes.
Lots of us could do our jobs with a laptop on the sofa but it wouldn’t meet the normal standards that your employer would apply in the office and could obviously result in higher costs longer term.

It might be considered necessity to do your job, from a H&S perspective. But unless the expense is incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performing the duties of your employment, there is no tax relief available under s336. 

Plus the things you're describing are unique, depending on the person. So even if they were accepted as "in performance of the duties", it is not a necessary expense that would have to be incurred by everyone who held that job. It's their personal circumstances that require the expenditure, basically. 

For capital allowances as an employee, the question is always: if it's necessary then why isn't your employer providing it. 

Andy_L

lisyloo said:

Jeremy535897 said:

cjmerritt7 said:

Thanks all, think I'll just stick to the £6/week tax relief.  Seems there is a grey area over whether the purchases could be considered as essential, ie could not do my job without them - or chosen to buy for personal/comfort reasons working from home for a prolonged time.  Likewise, bought to use for working from home whilst being told to work from home by employer.  But once return to the office - say mid-2021, the desk/chair/screen would then be used for personal use, study and/or other family members and occasional work from home afterwards - not exclusive to one or the other.  For those that suggested the capital allowance, I'm not self-employed so have no business assets that the home office could be considered against.  I have main salaried employment taxed at source and only have to do self assessment for a small amount of rental income for a property I jointly own.  So having to claim via self-assessment rather than the HMRC microsite.  Cheers.     

For the benefit of others, what you describe as a grey area is actually the rule: the first qualifies (assuming you are obliged by your employer to work from home), the second doesn't. Capital allowances apply whether you are employed or self employed, but with the distinction for the self employed that there is no "necessarily" requirement (which is logical as the only person involved in the purchase decision is the self employed person). If you were self employed, you could claim the business proportion of the cost of the furniture, but would have to treat it as sold at market value if you stopped using it for business.

Can someone just clear this up for me (curiosity - I didn’t buy anything).
is decent health and safety consider a necessity for doing your job?
e.g. Things like a foot rest, proper lift and tilt chair.
Given what I’ve come across in the office e.g. work area assessment, I would have said yes.
Lots of us could do our jobs with a laptop on the sofa but it wouldn’t meet the normal standards that your employer would apply in the office and could obviously result in higher costs longer term.

Employer's and employees should be following the normal H&S assessments for permenant home working as at the office. There are some relaxations if it's "temporary" home working.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/workers/home.htm

lisyloo

unholyangel said:

lisyloo said:

Jeremy535897 said:

cjmerritt7 said:

Thanks all, think I'll just stick to the £6/week tax relief.  Seems there is a grey area over whether the purchases could be considered as essential, ie could not do my job without them - or chosen to buy for personal/comfort reasons working from home for a prolonged time.  Likewise, bought to use for working from home whilst being told to work from home by employer.  But once return to the office - say mid-2021, the desk/chair/screen would then be used for personal use, study and/or other family members and occasional work from home afterwards - not exclusive to one or the other.  For those that suggested the capital allowance, I'm not self-employed so have no business assets that the home office could be considered against.  I have main salaried employment taxed at source and only have to do self assessment for a small amount of rental income for a property I jointly own.  So having to claim via self-assessment rather than the HMRC microsite.  Cheers.     

For the benefit of others, what you describe as a grey area is actually the rule: the first qualifies (assuming you are obliged by your employer to work from home), the second doesn't. Capital allowances apply whether you are employed or self employed, but with the distinction for the self employed that there is no "necessarily" requirement (which is logical as the only person involved in the purchase decision is the self employed person). If you were self employed, you could claim the business proportion of the cost of the furniture, but would have to treat it as sold at market value if you stopped using it for business.

Can someone just clear this up for me (curiosity - I didn’t buy anything).
is decent health and safety consider a necessity for doing your job?
e.g. Things like a foot rest, proper lift and tilt chair.
Given what I’ve come across in the office e.g. work area assessment, I would have said yes.
Lots of us could do our jobs with a laptop on the sofa but it wouldn’t meet the normal standards that your employer would apply in the office and could obviously result in higher costs longer term.

It might be considered necessity to do your job. But unless the expense is incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performing the duties of your employment, there is no tax relief available under s336. 

Plus the things you're describing are unique, depending on the person. So even if they were accepted as "in performance of the duties", it is not a necessary expense that would have to be incurred by everyone who held that job. It's their personal circumstances that require the expenditure, basically. 

Thanks for your reply.
Lift and tilt chairs are universal in offices now not special needs. Wrist rests and foot rests are not universal but not uncommon either e.g. 50% might be below average height.

In my industry (IT) I’d say that cyber security awareness is very high so we don’t (or can’t) download unauthorised apps or browse social media on work laptops, so yes it is not exaggerating to say business IT is not used for personal use. People have iPads for that.
I won’t be claiming anything. I did purchase a cable but I’ve saved a fortune in commuting.

unholyangel

lisyloo said:

unholyangel said:

lisyloo said:

Jeremy535897 said:

cjmerritt7 said:

Thanks all, think I'll just stick to the £6/week tax relief.  Seems there is a grey area over whether the purchases could be considered as essential, ie could not do my job without them - or chosen to buy for personal/comfort reasons working from home for a prolonged time.  Likewise, bought to use for working from home whilst being told to work from home by employer.  But once return to the office - say mid-2021, the desk/chair/screen would then be used for personal use, study and/or other family members and occasional work from home afterwards - not exclusive to one or the other.  For those that suggested the capital allowance, I'm not self-employed so have no business assets that the home office could be considered against.  I have main salaried employment taxed at source and only have to do self assessment for a small amount of rental income for a property I jointly own.  So having to claim via self-assessment rather than the HMRC microsite.  Cheers.     

For the benefit of others, what you describe as a grey area is actually the rule: the first qualifies (assuming you are obliged by your employer to work from home), the second doesn't. Capital allowances apply whether you are employed or self employed, but with the distinction for the self employed that there is no "necessarily" requirement (which is logical as the only person involved in the purchase decision is the self employed person). If you were self employed, you could claim the business proportion of the cost of the furniture, but would have to treat it as sold at market value if you stopped using it for business.

Can someone just clear this up for me (curiosity - I didn’t buy anything).
is decent health and safety consider a necessity for doing your job?
e.g. Things like a foot rest, proper lift and tilt chair.
Given what I’ve come across in the office e.g. work area assessment, I would have said yes.
Lots of us could do our jobs with a laptop on the sofa but it wouldn’t meet the normal standards that your employer would apply in the office and could obviously result in higher costs longer term.

It might be considered necessity to do your job. But unless the expense is incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performing the duties of your employment, there is no tax relief available under s336. 

Plus the things you're describing are unique, depending on the person. So even if they were accepted as "in performance of the duties", it is not a necessary expense that would have to be incurred by everyone who held that job. It's their personal circumstances that require the expenditure, basically. 

Thanks for your reply.
Lift and tilt chairs are universal in offices now not special needs. Wrist rests and foot rests are not universal but not uncommon either e.g. 50% might be below average height.

In my industry (IT) I’d say that cyber security awareness is very high so we don’t (or can’t) download unauthorised apps or browse social media on work laptops, so yes it is not exaggerating to say business IT is not used for personal use. People have iPads for that.
I won’t be claiming anything. I did purchase a cable but I’ve saved a fortune in commuting.

But the test isn't whether they're commonly provided. It's whether your duties require it and it was necessary (or an expense that each and every holder would have to incur/have no choice about). If it's claimed as a revenue (rather than capital) then it needs to be wholly and exclusively incurred.

Even your employer requiring you to pay it doesn't necessarily make it a necessary expense, allowable for tax purposes. Again, it needs to be the duties that require the expense. 

Have a read of my earlier post of eim31650 and also this one: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim36560

Jeremy535897

Note also https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim36730

MrsStepford

Husband is getting the £6 pw but although we bought him office chair and L shaped desk, he didn't claim for them from company as he was worried he would get taxed on them at 40%.