55,000 People Claim Work From Home Tax Relief In 10 Days

HMRC has a new online portal which allows workers to claim tax relief for working at home launched on 1st October 2020 has received over 54,800 customer claims by 11th October.

The portal is easy to use and has been set up to process tax relief on additional expenses for employed workers that were told by the employer to work from home to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Employers from 6^th April 2020 have been able to pay up to £6.00 a week tax-free to employees to cover additional costs if they have had to work from home.

Employees that have not received the working from home expenses payment direct from their employer can apply to the HMRC for the tax-relief payment.

Eligible taxpayers can claim relief based on the rate at which they pay tax, for example:

• An Employed worker paying the 20% basic rate of tax and claims tax relief on £6.00 per week, would receive £1.20 per week in tax relief towards the cost of their household bills.
• Higher rate taxpayers paying 40% would receive £2.40 per week.

This could mean that over the course of the year taxpayers can reduce the tax they pay by £62.40 or £124.80.

Karl Khan HMRC’s Interim Director General of Customer Services said: “We have made the online service easy to use for everyone to claim the money they are entitled to and takes a few minutes to make a claim”.

The online portal will adjust the individuals tax code for tax year 2020 to 2021 once the application has been approved.  They will receive the tax relief directly through their salary and will continue to receive the adjustment until March 2021.

HMRC are reminding employed healthcare workers and care home staff that they can claim tax-relief on work-related expenses including cleaning their uniforms and can also apply online to see if they are eligible for tax-relief on work expenses instantly.

HMRC are encouraging people that are paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) to claim directly via their website

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home rather than using an agent where fees or commission would be payable.

Agents will not be able to use the service meaning customers will receive 100% of the tax relief due.

Comment

£6 per week appears harsh to us.  Certainly, in the winter months, additional heating costs alone may drive up your bills.  If justification for higher employer funded expenses can be proved, your employer may refund more 'work from home' expenses without you incurring tax liabilities.