Working From Home Tax Relief - claiming extra?

stevedresden

Has anyone had any joy in claiming above and beyond the basic flat rate of tax relief (£6 week) for home workers

I've read https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32815
and it is still pretty vague when it says "Employees who wish to deduct more than £6 per week/£26 per month will be expected to keep records and to be able to show how their figure has been calculated"

Interested to know if people have tried it and what sort of records/proof is deemed acceptable by HMRC

My home office is in a converted outbuilding that has no central heating, so in theory I could keep records of how long I have the oil heater on for, as this is the one cost that is incurred “wholly and exclusively” “in the performance of” my employee duties.

Wondering if it's worth the effort

Grumpy_chap

Are you eligible in the first place, given there are now narrower eligibility criteria for home working?

stevedresden

Grumpy_chap said:

Are you eligible in the first place, given there are now narrower eligibility criteria for home working?

Yes - sorry. I am a permanent home worker and have a contract that says that. Our office was closed in Covid and we were all permanently made home workers, Been claiming the flat rate since 2020

Grumpy_chap

Do you have a power monitor plug recording the energy consumed by the heater?
Will you actually be able to claim the tax relief on sufficiently more allowance to even make it worth the while to move away from the simple flat rate?
AIUI, you either have to claim flat rate or claim actual costs, not to switch back and forth through the tax year.

OPTION 1: Flat rate £6 per week.  Typically 45 working weeks = £270

OPTION 2:  One heater, 3kW.  Heater has thermostat so cycles on and off, maybe power on 1/3rd of the time.  That means 1 kWh per hour.  27 pence per hour.  40 hours per week.  £10.80 per week.  Only in the colder months, so 22 weeks per year.  £237.60

stevedresden

Thanks - I know how to do the maths, and I have a power monitor plug, but my question is purely asking if anyone has successfully claimed the actual costs and what sort of proof HMRC were happy with. 

Your point about claiming one or the other is also interesting though, as it suggests that you could only claim actual costs retrospectively. So how does that work? Claim the flat rate and then if your actual costs work out be be higher, somehow ask for a rebate? 

I guess my point is that I rather suspect that no one is claiming the actual rate because it's made too onerous to do so

sheramber

How to claim

When you claim, you must send evidence that you have to work from home if you’re either claiming:

• £6 a week for the tax year 2022 to 2023 or later
• the exact amount you’ve spent

If you’re claiming the exact amount you’ve spent, you will also need to send evidence such as a copy of your receipts or bills

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

stevedresden

sheramber said:

How to claim

When you claim, you must send evidence that you have to work from home if you’re either claiming:

• £6 a week for the tax year 2022 to 2023 or later
• the exact amount you’ve spent

If you’re claiming the exact amount you’ve spent, you will also need to send evidence such as a copy of your receipts or bills

Yes - so has anyone successfully done this? Again - no one has a bill or a receipt that itemises the heating of one room in their house do they. So, even in my case where I can show how much it costs to run a heater in my home office - are they going to take my word for it?

Bookworm225

stevedresden said:

sheramber said:

How to claim

When you claim, you must send evidence that you have to work from home if you’re either claiming:

• £6 a week for the tax year 2022 to 2023 or later
• the exact amount you’ve spent

If you’re claiming the exact amount you’ve spent, you will also need to send evidence such as a copy of your receipts or bills

Yes - so has anyone successfully done this? Again - no one has a bill or a receipt that itemises the heating of one room in their house do they. So, even in my case where I can show how much it costs to run a heater in my home office - are they going to take my word for it?

there is plenty of guidance online explaining that you have to have a "reasonable" basis upon which you have based an apportionment calculation
floorspace or room count being the two most common methods

be careful of claiming 100% of all costs for an outbuilding though as that opens it up to CGT when you sell your house as the outbuilding no longer has any non business use so loses its private residence relief .

Plasticman

@Grumpy_chap - do you know whether having a "home worker" contract is sufficient to claim? I was speaking to somebody yesterday who is a home worker but her employer has an office with some staff office based and wasn't clear whether she was eligible or not. 

Grumpy_chap

Plasticman said:

@Grumpy_chap - do you know whether having a "home worker" contract is sufficient to claim? I was speaking to somebody yesterday who is a home worker but her employer has an office with some staff office based and wasn't clear whether she was eligible or not. 

The guidance is here:
https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

Plasticman

Grumpy_chap said:

Plasticman said:

@Grumpy_chap - do you know whether having a "home worker" contract is sufficient to claim? I was speaking to somebody yesterday who is a home worker but her employer has an office with some staff office based and wasn't clear whether she was eligible or not. 

The guidance is here:
https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

Thanks - yes, I'd checked that. Just a bit uncertain about this:

"There are no appropriate facilities available for you to perform your job on your employer's premises."

In my view there aren't as there are 5 desks for the office workers and none for the 50 or so home workers. That's why they have home based contracts. Just wasn't sure if that matched the view of HMRC!