HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has received more than 50,000 claims for tax relief for working from home since opening a new online portal on 1 October.
Since the start of the current tax year on 6 April 2020, employers have been permitted to pay employees up to £6 a week in respect of the additional costs of working from home.
Employees who have not received working from home expenses directly from their employer, but who have been told to work from home to limit the spread of Coronavirus can use the new portal to claim tax relief from HMRC.
Tax relief is provided at the rate at which a person pays income tax. This means that basic rate taxpayers receive tax relief of £1.20 a week (20 per cent of £6 a week) and higher rate taxpayers receive tax relief of £2.40 a week (40 per cent of £6 a week).
The relief will offer an annual reduction in an employee’s tax bill of £62.40 or £124.80 for the current tax year.
The relief will be provided through a change to an individual’s tax code, which will mean they will pay less tax between now and the end of March 2021.
Karl Khan, Interim Director General of Customer Services at HMRC, said: “We want everyone to get the money that they are entitled to, so we’ve made the online service as easy to use as we can – it takes just a few minutes to claim.”
The tax relief can be claimed here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home.
Link: 54,800 customers claim tax relief for working from home
