HMRC have made changes to Work From Home Allowance tax relief from 6th April 2022.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the UK government encouraged the public to work from home where possible.
This guidance was followed by some new rules on claiming tax relief, helping to combat the inevitable rise in household costs that stemmed from working from home instead of the office.
However, as more workers have returned to the office permanently – or are embracing hybrid working – the rules have unfortunately changed as of April 2022. Even if you have previously made a successful claim, you might not be able to claim the deduction for the 2022/23 tax year.
What has changed with the work-from-home tax relief?
From 6th April 2022, you can only make a claim if you have to work from home, not if you simply choose to.
Who is eligible for work-from-home tax relief?
You can only claim tax relief if you have to work from home and you’re not receiving expenses directly from your employer to cover the extra costs of working from home. Reasons for this could include:
- Your job requires you to live far away from your office
- Your employer does not have an office
- There are no appropriate facilities available for you to perform your job on your employer’s premises.
So, if you work from home simply because of COVID-19, your contract is flexible on whether you work at the office some or all of the time, or your office is sometimes full so you choose to work from home, you can’t claim work from home tax relief for the 2022/23 tax year.
Here is the HMRC guidance Claim tax relief for your job expenses: Working from home – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
