Can I claim energy bill expenses when working from home during snow?
HOUSEHOLDS will be wondering if they can claim tax relief if they've been forced to work from home during the snow.
Many are able to claim cash back for additional household costs if they have to work at home but not everyone can.
And with energy bills at an all-time high, it's important to understand if you can get money back if you're forced to work from home due to severe weather.
Rules set out by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) say that you can claim tax relief if you have to work from home, for example, because:
- your job requires you to live far away from your office
- your employer does not have an office
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you'll be able to claim cash back if you've had to work from home due to snow.
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This is because you cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home.
You also can't claim tax relief if:
- your employment contract lets you work from home some or all of the time
- you work from home because of Covid-19
- your employer has an office, but you cannot go there sometimes because it’s full
You can only claim for things to do with your work, such as:
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- business phone calls
- gas and electricity for your work area
You cannot claim for things that you use for both private and business use, such as rent or broadband access.
We've explained everything you need to know about claiming work from home tax relief below.
What is working from home tax relief?
You can get up to £140.40 per year in tax back, if you are forced to work from home.
Claims can also be made for the previous tax year, also worth up to £140.40, so anyone who's eligible for both years and hasn't yet claimed can get £280.80.
HMRC will, in fact, accept backdated claims for up to four years which means in total you could claim up to £561.60.
Under the scheme, your tax code is adjusted so you're not paying as much tax.
Claims for 2020/21 were paid as one lump sum in your salary while any ongoing claims after this are factored into your monthly wage.
The scheme is designed to help people cover the extra costs of working from home, like energy bills and internet connections.
The government has created a handy online tool to help you get the working from home tax back.
The online service is easy to use and takes just a few minutes to make a claim.
Who is eligible?
If you have worked from home, even if for just one day, you can claim the tax back.
The crucial point is, however, that your employer must have required or asked you to work from home for you to be able to claim.
This doesn't apply if it's something you've decided yourself.
To be eligible, you will also have to have seen your household costs rise because of working from home.
This could be because you've had the lights or heating on more because you're inside for longer, or you've used more internet than usual.
Generally, the bills will count as an increased cost, as if you were at work in the office, you would not have been using them regularly.
But you won't be able to claim the tax back if your employer is covering your working from home expenses already.
You also can't claim if you're self-employed - since you work for yourself you can claim expenses on your tax return.
How much can I claim?
Your employer can effectively pay you £6 a week extra tax-free to cover expenses.
But it's more likely you'll instead claim tax relief on this £6 a week.
If you claim the tax relief, the exact reduction to your tax bill depends on your tax rate and it's the highest rate of tax you pay that's used.
For those paying the standard tax rate of 20%, you would get £1.20 a week in tax relief - or £62.40 per tax year.
While for people who pay tax at the higher rate of 40%, you'd get £2.40 a week - or £124.80 per tax year.
Additional rate taxpayers who pay 45% get £2.70 a week - or £140.40 per tax year.
How do I claim the cash?
HMRC has to help you submit a claim for both tax years.
Once the application has been approved, your tax code for the tax year will be adjusted automatically.
You will then see the tax relief directly through your salary.
You won't get a one-off payment when claiming for this year, instead, it will be included as part of your weekly or monthly payments from your employer.
But for backdated claims for 2020/21, you'll get the money as a lump sum through your salary.
You'll need several documents to hand in order to claim tax back.
That includes:
- Something to prove your identity - this could be a passport, driving licence, or you can answer various questions based on your credit file
- A P60 or recent payslip
- National insurance number
- Your Government Gateway user ID and password or you can create a user ID if you do not already have one.
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Thousands of home-workers can still claim backdated tax relief on expenses incurred during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Martin Lewis recently explained that some can still claim tax relief worth up to £280 if they worked from home