If you work from home, you may be able to claim tax relief on the extra costs, whether you are employed or run your own business. We claim it correctly, and reclaim earlier years where you missed out.
Working From Home Tax Relief
Employees required to work from home can claim tax relief on the additional household costs, either at HMRC's flat weekly rate or, with evidence, on actual extra costs. The self-employed can claim a proportion of home running costs, heat, light, water, council tax, rent or mortgage interest, based on the rooms and hours used for work, or use HMRC's simplified flat rate. Many people under-claim or never claim at all.
Your Tax Help Accountants works out which method gives you the most, claims the relief correctly, and, for employees who were required to work from home in earlier years, reclaims the tax for those years too. For the self-employed, a proper proportional calculation is often far more generous than the flat rate, and we make sure you get the larger, defensible claim.
For the self-employed, the flat-rate home-working allowance is simple but often much smaller than a proper proportional claim based on your actual rooms and hours. We calculate both and claim whichever is larger and defensible.
The Detail That Matters
If you work from home, you can claim tax relief on the extra costs, but the rules differ sharply between employees and the self-employed, and the eligibility for employees tightened after the pandemic. Claiming the right way, for the right years, is what matters.
Employees can claim a flat £6 a week (no receipts needed) if required to work from home, but since the pandemic, HMRC restricts this to those who genuinely have to work from home, not those who simply choose to. For earlier pandemic years, wider claims were allowed and can still be backdated.
The self-employed can claim a proportion of actual household costs, heat, light, broadband, council tax, rent or mortgage interest, based on rooms used and time, or use HMRC's simplified flat rates by hours worked. Actual costs often give a bigger deduction for those working from home full-time.
Relief covers the extra cost of working from home, not costs you would pay anyway in full. Broadband and phone use apportioned to business, a share of energy, and equipment can qualify; a fixed proportion of the whole mortgage generally cannot for employees.
Employees who were eligible in earlier years but never claimed can backdate up to four years. For the height of the pandemic, when the eligibility was relaxed, this can add up to a worthwhile refund.
The main confusion is employees assuming the relaxed pandemic-era rules still apply: the £6 a week is now limited to those required to work from home, and claiming wrongly can be challenged, while genuine backdated claims are often missed.
Key Figures
How We Help
Flat rate or actual costs, employed or self-employed, we calculate both and claim whichever leaves you paying less, with the evidence to back it up.
A proportional claim on your real home costs is often far more than the flat rate. We work it out properly so you are not under-claiming.
Employees required to work from home in earlier years can often still reclaim the relief. We check and recover it for the years still in time.
All the forms, calculations and correspondence handled on your behalf, so you never have to decode HMRC's rules or sit on hold.
A clear fixed fee quoted after a free call, your position explained in plain English, and never a surprise bill.
We act quickly, and where earlier years are involved we put those right too, reclaiming refunds or minimising penalties.
Working-from-home relief is widely under-claimed, employees not realising they qualify, and the self-employed defaulting to the small flat rate instead of a proper proportional claim. Either way, money is left on the table. We claim it correctly and reclaim earlier years.
Recent Client Outcome
A self-employed consultant working from home full-time had been claiming only HMRC's small flat-rate home allowance.
What we did. We compared the flat rate against a proper apportionment of their actual household costs, a share of heating, electricity, broadband and council tax based on the room used and hours worked.
The outcome. The actual-cost method gave a deduction several times larger than the flat rate, and we amended the current return and claimed the difference for an earlier year, increasing their relief and reducing the tax bill.
For a full-time home worker, taking the time to calculate real costs, rather than defaulting to the flat rate, made a meaningful difference.
Why People Come to Us
Questions Answered
Free fifteen-minute call. Fixed quote within twenty-four hours. Your return filed, every expense claimed, your bill explained, and salon VAT, payroll and accounts handled if you own a salon. Same accountant, start to finish.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk, we typically respond within two business hours.
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