Martin Lewis has urged millions of Brits to check if they can claim back up to £280 from HMRC if they worked from home during the Covid pandemic.
If you worked from home before April 6 this year - even for just one day - then the MoneySavingExpert founder explained that it’s not too late to claim tax relief.
The money is designed to cover the expense of working away from the office - for example, higher energy bills because you’re home during the day.
You can make a claim for tax back if you’ve worked at home for even just one day, and claims can be backdated.
This means if you worked from home in the pandemic, you might be able to claim for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 tax years.
Have you successfully claimed tax relief from working from home? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
“HMRC specifically confirmed that claims from employees working at home due to coronavirus measures, if their usual workplace was closed, were eligible for tax relief,” explained Martin.
“The same also applied if you had to work from home because you were told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, or because you were self-isolating having been pinged by the NHS app.
“If you didn't claim the tax relief, but did work from home, you can still do it now, as you can back-claim up to four years.”
How to claim tax relief for 2020/21 and 2021/22 tax years
If you had to work from home during the pandemic, the reduction to your tax bill is applied against the whole tax year.
To be eligible, your boss must have required you to work from home and you must have incurred extra costs.
How much you'll get off depends on the rate of tax you pay. You can claim tax relief on £6 per week and this adds up to:
- £1.20 a week for a basic 20% rate taxpayer (£62.40 a year)
- £2.40 a week for a higher 40% rate taxpayer (£124.80 a year)
- £2.70 a week for a top 45% rate taxpayer (£140.40 a year)
Workers can find out more and make a claim for working from home during the pandemic on Gov.uk website.
To claim the money, you'll need a Government Gateway user ID and password - this is free to set up.
If your claim is backdated, you'll be paid the full amount for these past tax years by cheque or bank transfer.
What about the current 2022/23 tax year?
Putting in a claim for before 2020, or for the current 2022/23 tax year, will be trickier.
The rules on work from home tax relief were loosened during Covid but have now become much stricter.
For example, HMRC says you can't claim tax relief if the only reason you're working from home is because of coronavirus.
You also can’t claim if your employer offers “hybrid working” and you sometimes work from home as standard.
However, you would be entitled to tax relief now if your employer doesn’t have the facilities for you to work in the office, or you can’t reasonably travel to work each day.
