Originally posted on: 23 March 2021
Updated on: 25 February 2026
Have you worked from home in the last year? Even for a day or one meeting? You can claim a year’s worth of tax relief!
This is done via the HMRC microservice tool. However, we do not yet know what will happen to the microservice after 5-Apr-21, so for safety and simplicity, get your claim in now!
If you are required to work from home (which millions have had to for at least periods over the last 12 months) then you can, and always have been able to, claim for increased costs due to working from home — ie electricity, broadband.
The easiest way is to claim tax relief on £6 a week, without the need to keep receipts or prove any information. Tax relief of £6 a week equates to a gain of £1.20 a week for a basic 20% rate taxpayer, £2.40 a week for a higher 40% rate taxpayer.
If you feel your costs have increased more than this, you can claim more, but will need evidence of the costs increased and be able to correctly apportion this to the fact that you are working from home.
For the 2020/21 tax year only, you only need to claim once, and can claim for the full tax year. The working-from-home tax relief is an individual benefit, so if you and your partner have both been working from home, you can both claim it!
You will need to have a Government Gateway ID to do it. If you do not have one, you can create one as part of the process. All of this can be done quickly and easily online.
But don’t expect the money to be paid back to you — this claim will result in a new tax code being issued, so that you pay less tax on your salary each month.
If you are registered for self-assessment you can claim the allowance as part of the self-assessment process. When completing your return online, you will need to fill in the box titled ‘other expenses and capital allowances’ in the employment section. To help with any other tax planning jobs at the end of the year, see our Tax Planning for the end of the 2021/22 Tax Year guide which main looks at the taxation of dividends, but also considers various tax planning opportunities. If you work through your own limited company, you can also use our online corporation tax calculator to help with your company tax planning.
If you would like any assistance with completing your self-assessment tax return, for any period, please get in touch to talk to one of our accountants.