How to claim money for working from home during the pandemic

Much of 2020 has been very difficult for many of us, suddenly having to adapt to working from home hasn’t been easy, and where we have done so, there have been additional costs associated with this.

Yes, we have all probably saved on travelling to and from work, but the costs of working from home have to be considered.

HM Revenue & Customs have provided us with some form of relief and a link to their website to make a claim. If you already complete a tax return under self-assessment each year, then you will make the claim through the tax return.

If you do not complete a tax return you can follow the link below to make your claim. You will have to create a Government Gateway account in order to do so, this doesn’t take long and is actually not a bad thing to do with Digital Taxation already with us; it will be rolled out to individuals in the coming years.

How to claim

So what is the basic claim? At the moment you can claim £6 per week if you have been working from home due to COVID-19, by following the link you can check to see if you can make the claim. 

This is the no receipts method, and if you are eligible, you can claim. As a basic rate tax payer you will be entitled to relief at your marginal rate, i.e. 21% if you are a basic rate tax payer and 41% if you are a higher rate tax payer, they rates differ slightly in the rest of the UK. 

The adjustment will be made through your salary, so ensure that you have a payslip ready with your employer details. 

Click here to access the HMRC form

Please note that if your expenses are higher then you may make a claim, however you will be expected to provide receipts as evidence. 

So you should act now and follow the above link that will tell you if you are eligible, guide you to setting up your Government Gateway account and guide you through the claim.

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