Working from home

You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work at home for all or part of the week.

Who can claim tax relief

You can claim tax relief if you have to work from home, for example because:

  • your job requires you to live far away from your office
  • your employer does not have an office

Who cannot claim tax relief

You cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home. This includes if:

  • your employment contract lets you work from home some or all of the time
  • you work from home because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • your employer has an office, but you cannot go there sometimes because it’s full

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.

How much you can claim

You can either claim tax relief on:

  • £6 a week from 6 April 2020 (for previous tax years the rate is £4 a week) - you will not need to keep evidence of your extra costs
  • the exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred above the weekly amount - you’ll need evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts

You’ll get tax relief based on the rate at which you pay tax.

Example

If you pay the 20% basic rate of tax and claim tax relief on £6 a week, you would get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20% of £6).

You’ll usually get tax relief through a change to your tax code.

You can claim for this tax year and the 4 previous tax years.

How to claim

Use this service to:

  • check if you can claim
  • make a claim if you’re eligible

Start now