Martin Lewis: Working from home due to coronavirus, even for a day? Claim TWO years' worth of tax re

Muzio1964 · 8 April 2020 at 1:04PM

HI - I have a number of people WFH in my household, do we have to make individual claims? or can the household bill payer claim a blanket amount?

thanks for your help guys.

Muzio

onlevel · 8 April 2020 at 1:08PM

Hi,

Was wondering also, I have a fully expensed Company Car that as I am now working from Home, I am not using, but i am still paying the tax on the vehicle and also the fuel. If I am to be working from home for say the next 12 weeks, will i get a rebate on this?

Dazed_and_C0nfused · 8 April 2020 at 3:32PM

onlevel said:

Hi,
Was wondering also, I have a fully expensed Company Car that as I am now working from Home, I am not using, but i am still paying the tax on the vehicle and also the fuel. If I am to be working from home for say the next 12 weeks, will i get a rebate on this?

Not unless the car stops being "available" to you.

Tax on company Cara isn't based on use but the availability of the vehicle. Could you return it and the keys to your employer?

zagfles · 8 April 2020 at 3:57PM

It's not obvious from the SA form or the help notes which box it should go in.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-employment-sa102

Boxes 18 and 20 seem to be the only ones it could be but both talk just about tools and clothes. The link to the gov.uk site has a working at home section with a "check if you can claim" button but this is useless for people in SA - it just says you have to claim on your SA form but doesn't say where!

MuddyHen · 8 April 2020 at 8:13PM

Hello Everyone.

The post from 'myuserid' seemed to be more helpful than the email from MSE.

More generous employers can provide £6/week tax free. My employer has rejected this (see exchange below).
I now need to apply using the P87 online for a measly £1.20 a week?
I started working from home on 18.03.2020, is it really worth claiming anything for this tax year?

Please may MSE forum members read and advise on the following exchange between myself and my employer related to the possible £6 per week additional benefit for working from home.

My Letter to HR

Dear HR
If your employer requires you to work at home, you can – and have always been able to – claim for increased costs due to working from home, eg, heating and electricity. From Monday 6 April 2020 (the new tax year), you can, in simple terms, claim a rate of £6/week.

Employers can pay you £6/week extra tax-free. Employers can give you an allowance up to this amount and what they give you is free from tax, so you get it all (to give you more, it will need to make special arrangements).

I believe the amount available to staff is £6 tax-free.
Would this be something you would be able to arrange from 6th April 2020 going forward?

Response from HR

Whilst there is an allowance for working from home that can be made (without deductions for tax and National Insurance by HMRC), this is not an entitlement for staff who work at home and given the nature of the current situation, this isn't something that the [we] intend to make available to staff.

That being said, [we] will look to reimburse staff for reasonable and material expenses incurred as a result of working at home. Any reimbursement would also take into account any associated savings as a result of an individual working from home (e.g. a reduction in fuel costs).

Taking all of this into consideration, if you believe that you have incurred costs as a result of working from home, you would need to contact your line manager in the first instance.

anniecave · 8 April 2020 at 9:12PM

zagfles said:

It's not obvious from the SA form or the help notes which box it should go in.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-employment-sa102
Boxes 18 and 20 seem to be the only ones it could be but both talk just about tools and clothes. The link to the gov.uk site has a working at home section with a "check if you can claim" button but this is useless for people in SA - it just says you have to claim on your SA form but doesn't say where!

If I received an allowance or other amount from from my employer then I would include it within "Expenses payments received and balancing charges" (box 16) and to claim the £6 per week I would include it in the last expenses box "Other expenses and capital allowances" (box 20)

anniecave · 8 April 2020 at 9:16PM

Luv_Lee said:

Are large employers legally obliged to pay the £6 p/w for working from home? If so, do employees have to make a request to their employer or will the employer automatically include it in employee salaries?

No employer is legally obliged to pay the £6 per week allowance. You can ask whether they will consider your request for them to pay it.

linguistbrit · 9 April 2020 at 5:08PM

My employer has said that they won't cover increased costs themselves.

I started WFH on 18th March and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. Do I claim for the period which falls into the tax year 2019/20 now or should I wait until I return to office working, even if this is then in a different tax year?

Dazed_and_C0nfused · 9 April 2020 at 5:28PM

If you are eligible you would have to claim for two different tax years.

But the amount claimable for 2019:20 is only £4/week and the tax relief due is likely to be outweighed by the tax most people on PAYE owe each year i.e. the net result will be you won't get any actual refund

ianianian_2 · 12 April 2020 at 7:29PM

What constitutes your employer requiring you to wfh?
There's nothing formal documented in our company, but management suggests we work 1-2 days from home to reduce car impact on the environment, free up desk space etc. We could all go into the office... We'd just have to sit on each other's knees!

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Martin Lewis: Working from home due to coronavirus, even for a day? Claim TWO years' worth of tax re

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