Now paying tax - can I claim WFH allowance?

drovers85

I haven’t claimed this allowance before as I haven’t paid tax due to being part time. However, I noticed recently that I’ve started to pay a small amount of tax due to a pay rise at the start of the year. Does this allow me to claim for the allowance now or should I not bother? FYI I’ve worked from home since the start of the pandemic back in March 2020. 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.  

sheramber

 Does you contract require you to work from home or it is for convenience?

drovers85

sheramber said:

 Does you contract require you to work from home or it is for convenience?

Our office closed during the pandemic. We’ve been asked to go in for 1 day a week from June this year. 

sheramber

But is ti a concession to only go in 1 day a week and  you can choose to work from home the other days.

Could you go in 5 days if you wanted to?

WFH allowance due to covid is no longer available as it is no longer  a government requirement .  Now you can only claim if you are required to work from home.

lisyloo

drovers85 said:

sheramber said:

 Does you contract require you to work from home or it is for convenience?

Our office closed during the pandemic. We’ve been asked to go in for 1 day a week from June this year. 

It’s not clear whether you are being told to stay home on the other 4 days or whether it’s flexible.
this is crucial as to whether you qualify.

noalibi

In a similar situation.  Not contracted to WfH, my company allows flexible working with principles for guidance on the number of days in the office rather than a mandate. I don't have a dedicated desk and the office space only has capacity for 50% of the total employees at any one time.  Can I claim the tax relief for working from home (https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home) with a clear conscience given I would need to meet the "there are no appropriate facilities available for you to perform your job on your employer's premises" requirement?

drovers85

sheramber said:

But is ti a concession to only go in 1 day a week and  you can choose to work from home the other days.

Could you go in 5 days if you wanted to?

WFH allowance due to covid is no longer available as it is no longer  a government requirement .  Now you can only claim if you are required to work from home.

I’m asking as I was hoping to claim some back from the last two years where we had no choice but to work from home. So is this no longer an option?

I’m required to go into the office 1 day a week from June 2022. 

lisyloo

drovers85 said:

sheramber said:

But is ti a concession to only go in 1 day a week and  you can choose to work from home the other days.

Could you go in 5 days if you wanted to?

WFH allowance due to covid is no longer available as it is no longer  a government requirement .  Now you can only claim if you are required to work from home.

I’m asking as I was hoping to claim some back from the last two years where we had no choice but to work from home. So is this no longer an option?

I’m required to go into the office 1 day a week from June 2022. 

You can back claim tax relief for previous years, but you said you didn’t pay any tax so there is zero to claim back?

i don’t think you can apply previous years tax reliefs to this years taxable income.
tax reliefs you are entitled to apply to the same tax year.

so I think you were entitled but tax = zero so relief = zero
now you are paying tax you aren’t entitled to the relief

Perhaps you can explain in terms of tax years what you are trying to do?
are you trying to apply relief you are entitled to in 2019/2020 to income earned in 2021/2022?

lisyloo

noalibi said:

In a similar situation.  Not contracted to WfH, my company allows flexible working with principles for guidance on the number of days in the office rather than a mandate. I don't have a dedicated desk and the office space only has capacity for 50% of the total employees at any one time.  Can I claim the tax relief for working from home (https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home) with a clear conscience given I would need to meet the "there are no appropriate facilities available for you to perform your job on your employer's premises" requirement?

If ŷou are saying that on some days you are not able to go into the office because of the desk situation, then I’d say you qualify when you have to wfh.

there was a decision at one point that you could claim for the whole year (because of the continually changing rules during covid).
i don’t know if that still applies.
it might not.

Jeremy535897

See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6354316/am-i-required-to-work-from-home#latest