People assume that working from home is the cheaper alternative to paying petrol and fares for the commute to work. However, some of us must pay for our own equipment, incur an increase in costs from an increase in electricity usage and in some cases -not to get into the nitty-gritty- we must also pay for extra costs as a result of business telephone calls and the occasional commute to the workplace.
As a response to these issues, the government has rolled out Tax Relief for job expenses. There are, however, as with most schemes, rules to the Tax Relief which prohibit people from taking advantage of the new tax scheme. Simply put, the rules are as follows:
Those who can claim Tax Relief:
- Must use their own money to pay for things that are a requirement to work
- These things must only be used for work
Those who cannot claim the Tax Relief:
- Receive compensation from their employer
- Or receive any alternative support from their employer (e.g your employer buys you a laptop, but you want a different model – sorry guys, it doesn’t work like that)
The Tax Relief you can claim will be based on 2 criteria. The first is based on what you’ve spent, the second is the rate at which you pay tax.
Gov.uk have used the following example, “if you spent £60 and pay tax at a rate of 20% in that year, the tax relief you can claim is £12”. Please note that some claims will require records of your expenses so do bear this in mind.
For more information on Tax Relief, you can visit the Government UK website here.
Or if you’re in need of any work from home support, don’t forget you can book a call with us at a time convenient to you here or by clicking the button below.