Nearly 800,000 employees claim tax relief for working from home
29 June 2021
HMRC has revealed that, since April, nearly 800,000 employees have claimed the tax relief for working from home during the pandemic.
Eligible employees can claim a full year’s entitlement where they have been instructed to work from home by their employer, even in scenarios where they have only worked from home for one day during the tax year. Any employees who have returned to the office to work since early April or who are due to return shortly are still able to claim the working from home tax relief for the entirety of tax year 2021-22.
Once an employee has successfully applied, and had their application approved, they will see an adjustment to their tax code which will mean that the tax relief is applied automatically to their salary.
The tax relief is available on £6 a week. Eligible employees will receive tax relief based on the tax bracket that they sit within. For a 40% taxpayer, for example, they would receive 40% of £6, so £2.40 per week towards the cost of their household bills.
Individuals who worked from home due to the pandemic in tax year 2020-21, but who did not claim for the tax relief, still have the opportunity to do so as HMRC will accept backdated claims for up to four years.
Claims can be made via the online portal here, but agents must not use the portal to claim on behalf of their clients.
CIPP comment
Although the working from home tax relief is available for the duration of 2021-22, what will happen beyond that point? As many businesses seem set to embrace hybrid working in the future, how will the tax relief be apportioned for those working between home and the office? Send your thoughts and views through to the Policy team, at [email protected].
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