Working from home tax relief

You can only claim tax relief for working from home if your employer requires you to work there, for example because there is no office for you or your job is set up as home-based. Choosing to work from home, including under a flexible working or hybrid arrangement you asked for, does not qualify. This has been the rule since 6 April 2022. If you do qualify, you can claim a flat weekly amount without evidence, or your actual extra costs with records.

Who qualifies now

HMRC looks at why you work from home, not how often. You are likely to qualify if:

• your job is advertised and contracted as home-based
• your employer has no office or desk for you to use
• the nearest workplace is too far away for you to travel to each day as part of the job

You do not qualify if:

• your employer has an office you could use, but you prefer home
• you agreed hybrid working through a flexible working request
• you work from home only some days by choice, even if this is common in your team
• you only take work home in the evenings, such as marking or planning

Teachers who mark at home, for example, do not qualify, because the school provides a workplace. A council officer whose team’s office has closed and who is told to work from home permanently may well qualify.

Our guides to flexible working requests and flexible working in the public sector cover how home and hybrid arrangements are agreed. Agreeing one does not create a right to tax relief.

Common public sector examples

Public sector roles that are sometimes contracted as home-based include some NHS 111 clinical advisers and call handlers, remote clinical coders, some Civil Service contact centre and casework roles, and certain council revenues and benefits posts. The test is in the contract and the employer’s arrangements, not the job title. If you are unsure, ask HR whether your post is formally home-based and whether there is an office you are entitled to use. The NHS 111 call handler profile describes one role where home working arrangements vary by provider.

What you can claim

There are two options.

The first is a flat weekly amount, set by HMRC, that covers extra household costs such as heating, electricity and business calls. You do not need receipts. The current figure is on the gov.uk working at home page. The relief is the tax on that amount: 20 per cent for a basic rate taxpayer, 40 per cent at the higher rate, and your own rate in Scotland.

The second is the actual extra cost of working at home, if it is higher. You need records showing how the extra cost was worked out, such as the share of a gas or electricity bill linked to the hours you work. Costs that would be the same whether or not you worked from home, such as rent, mortgage interest or a broadband package you already had, do not count.

How to claim

Claims are made online through gov.uk, by post, or on a Self Assessment return if you file one. HMRC usually adjusts your tax code for the current year, so the relief comes through monthly pay. For earlier years when you met the conditions, it pays a refund; our guide to claiming a tax refund covers how those are paid.

If you claimed during the pandemic, before the rules tightened, and have changed jobs or gone back to the office, check the claim has stopped. A claim that continues after you stop meeting the conditions can lead to underpaid tax being collected later through your code.

If your circumstances change

Tell HMRC if your employer opens an office for you, you move to a hybrid pattern by choice, or you change jobs. If you become home-based partway through the year, you can only claim for the weeks you met the conditions. Keep a copy of any letter or contract change that says you are required to work from home, in case HMRC asks.