Work from home electricity cost

[Deleted User]

Hi. I work from home (office is over 3 hours away) and would like to claim electricity costs for running equipment like computers.

I can buy a meter for my computer going forward, but can I just estimate the previous year's costs? Perhaps by comparing the weekly consumption when I was working and when I was away but the house was still occupied?

Brie

Who do you plan on claiming this from?  I don't know of any companies that have done this.  Most you might get is to qualify for a WFH tax allowance.  

born_again

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

What you can claim for

You can only claim for things to do with your work, such as:

• business phone calls
• gas and electricity for your work area

You cannot claim for things that you use for both private and business use, such as rent or broadband access.

Given the cost is minimal, is it worth it?

DullGreyGuy

[Deleted User] said:

Hi. I work from home (office is over 3 hours away) and would like to claim electricity costs for running equipment like computers.

I can buy a meter for my computer going forward, but can I just estimate the previous year's costs? Perhaps by comparing the weekly consumption when I was working and when I was away but the house was still occupied?

Who are you claiming this from? Your employer? The flat rate scheme is very generous and much less hassle than your suggesting. 


 My laptop is very energy efficient, I admit, and it will happily run 24/7 on a 20w charger for office duties. So 20w per hour, 45 hours a week 48 weeks a year is 43,200wh or 43.2Kwh. Our electricity is 28.31p per kWh + 5% VAT and so the annual cost of using my laptop at home is £12.84

 If you have a less efficient laptop or are using a second screen etc then this number will be higher but it won't bring you early retirement. 

InMyDreams

[Deleted User] said:

Hi. I work from home (office is over 3 hours away)

Unless there is a business reason for your employer to require you to live 3 hours away from the office, then HMRC won’t give you any tax relief.

I think your only option is to appeal to your employer, in which case it will be up to them what evidence (if any) they require.

[Deleted User]

born_again said:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

What you can claim for

You can only claim for things to do with your work, such as:

• business phone calls
• gas and electricity for your work area

You cannot claim for things that you use for both private and business use, such as rent or broadband access.

Given the cost is minimal, is it worth it?

I estimate it will be in the order of about £200/year of electricity. Gas is harder to calculate because it varies with temperature.

[Deleted User]

InMyDreams said:

[Deleted User] said:

Hi. I work from home (office is over 3 hours away)

Unless there is a business reason for your employer to require you to live 3 hours away from the office, then HMRC won’t give you any tax relief.

I think your only option is to appeal to your employer, in which case it will be up to them what evidence (if any) they require.

The business reason is that they couldn't hire anyone with my skills who lived closer. Recently we took on another person in a similar role, also remote, for the same reason. Post brexit it got even worse for them.

That said, they took me on during the pandemic, and for safety and health reasons I was very clear that even if I lived next door I wouldn't be in the office. I won't go into my health issues, but since they can't really fire me simply because I live far away and the pandemic is over, I'm not sure what HMRC would expect them to do.

Jeremy535897

You have to establish first whether your situation qualifies. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32790

[Deleted User]

Jeremy535897 said:

You have to establish first whether your situation qualifies. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32790

Thanks, that is a useful answer. It looks like example 9 covers me, the "choice" not to move home nearer to the office means I get nothing.

Seems ridiculous, what if the company relocated to London and you simply couldn't afford to live there? But, the rules are the rules, and I'm in no position to challenge them.

Thanks again Jeremy.

DullGreyGuy

[Deleted User] said:

Jeremy535897 said:

You have to establish first whether your situation qualifies. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32790

Thanks, that is a useful answer. It looks like example 9 covers me, the "choice" not to move home nearer to the office means I get nothing.

Seems ridiculous, what if the company relocated to London and you simply couldn't afford to live there? But, the rules are the rules, and I'm in no position to challenge them.

Thanks again Jeremy.

Those are the rules for claiming relief from HMRC... its different if you ask your employer to remburse you the £15 of electricity a year (as it would be in my case if you consider having a light on in winter) however it may be a taxable benefit 

sheramber

[Deleted User] said:

Jeremy535897 said:

You have to establish first whether your situation qualifies. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32790

Thanks, that is a useful answer. It looks like example 9 covers me, the "choice" not to move home nearer to the office means I get nothing.

Seems ridiculous, what if the company relocated to London and you simply couldn't afford to live there? But, the rules are the rules, and I'm in no position to challenge them.

Thanks again Jeremy.

If your company relocated you would negotiate  with them to cover extrs expenses incurred. 

As an employee ,  employer should be covering your expenses for business use.