Working from Home - Flat rate allowance

An employer may pay an employee up to £6 per week (£26 per month), free of tax and NICs when there are arrangements between the employer and employee under which the employee regularly performs some or all of their employment duties at home. The amount is to cover the extra day-to-day costs of running the employee’s home, e.g. heating and lighting, but the employee does not need to keep records of the precise costs incurred.

If the employer does not make a payment towards the employee’s household running costs, the employee can make a claim to HMRC for tax relief on £6 per week, as long as there are homeworking arrangements between the employer and employee under which the employee regularly performs some or all of their employment duties at home.

To make a claim employees will need to:

  • Head to the government’s microservice portal and answer the eligibility questions
  • Answer questions about other work-related expenses that they could claim for too
  • Create a Government Gateway ID  – they probably won't have one, but they can create one during the process
  • State the date that they started working from home

If they have been working since the start of the first lockdown (23 March 2020) put that date in and they will get a rebate for two whole tax years (6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021 and 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022) and the two weeks extra

Directors are welcome to claim this allowance too, however if you usually complete a self-assessment, you won’t be able to use HMRC’s online portal; instead apply for the tax relief on your tax return (or if we complete the return then we will include it, if relevant for you). 

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