The way we all work in the UK is changing. Back in 2019, before we’d even heard of Covid, less than 5% of us worked from home. By 2022, that had risen to 25% of people working from home some of the time and 13% working from home all of the time.

But the amount of people claiming tax relief hasn’t risen. That’s because most of us aren’t clear on whether or not we can claim any tax back.

So let’s answer that question as simply as possible.

Can I claim tax back for working from home?

It depends.

You can claim tax relief if your employer doesn’t have an office. That counts if you’re self-employed and your work address is also your home address.

If your employer lets you choose to work from home some or all of the time, or their office is full so you can only work there some of the time, you can’t claim.

Basically, you can claim tax back if you have to work from home, because you’ll end up running up additional costs during the course of your working week.

What can I claim for?

Lets start with the big one. Your home.

You can claim a portion of your of it, based on how much of your house you’re using.

Let’s say you have a five room house (not counting the kitchen or bathroom). If you have one room you only ever use for work – a home office or study – you could claim up to 20% of your mortgage interest back on your tax return. This is just for self-employed sole traders.

Next up, energy. You can claim back a percentage of heating and electricity used in that one room you use for work, while you’re working. Same goes for broadband, and phone bills.

Basically, you can claim just for the things you use during work for work.

What can’t I claim for?

As a rule of thumb, if you’re also using something for your personal life, you can’t claim it.

So even if you’re using your broadband to check work emails, you could only claim for your whole broadband bill if you never, ever used that internet connection to watch Netflix, or do your online shopping, or visit a blog to see whether or not you can claim tax back.

Same goes for rent, phone bills and heating. You can claim a portion back for the time you’re at work, otherwise it counts as a personal expense.

What’s the easiest way to make sure I’m claiming the right tax back?

It all gets very complicated, and HMRC do let you claim a flat tax relief fee of £6 per week (pro rata on your tax rate) without keeping any extra records. Let’s be honest, that £6 per week won’t go very far, and it certainly won’t cover that percentage of your rent, or your broadband, phone calls, heating, lighting…

So you have a choice.

You can decode the HMRC guidance on what you can and can’t claim for, get out your calculator and your heating bills, and try and work out exactly what you can claim and when.

Or you could let Penny Ledger do it. We know exactly how much you can claim, we’ll submit your tax return so you’re claiming back everything you should be. Not just for working from home, but for all your other business expenses.

Don’t pay more than you need to, and don’t run the risk of being fined for a late tax return. Get started today with our team of experts.