Claiming home-working expenses

imogen

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I'm talking here about when your employer requires you to work at home but does not reimburse the relevant expenses such as heat, light, broadband, cleaning.

IT69 says that employers can provide payment but does not cover the specific issues of what can be claimed for these. eg would 25% or 50% of home heating bills be covered if you work 40 hours a week from home?

Anyone any advice here on how you can claim back against your income tax if your employer does not provide a reimbursement?

Thanks for any advice.
 
I'm talking here about when your employer requires you to work at home but does not reimburse the relevant expenses such as heat, light, broadband, cleaning.

IT69 says that employers can provide payment but does not cover the specific issues of what can be claimed for these. eg would 25% or 50% of home heating bills be covered if you work 40 hours a week from home?

Anyone any advice here on how you can claim back against your income tax if your employer does not provide a reimbursement?

Thanks for any advice.

I think you're being fairly ambitious with the 25%, never mind 50.
 
Well, the government allows your employer to give you up to 3.20 per day for light and heat in a home office, but if the employer doesn't chose to give it to you, why would you not be entitled to get it back? It's an employment expense. I wouldn't be running my home heating during the day if I wasn't working from home. I'm just not sure how to claim it or what to claim.
 
Well, the government allows your employer to give you up to 3.20 per day for light and heat in a home office, but if the employer doesn't chose to give it to you, why would you not be entitled to get it back? It's an employment expense. I wouldn't be running my home heating during the day if I wasn't working from home. I'm just not sure how to claim it or what to claim.

Have you confirmed with the employer that they won't give it to you?

You'll need to submit a claim for those expenses by submitting a Form 12 tax return after the end of the year. I'd suggest that you claim 3.20 x the number of days you worked from home.

However, the statutory test for such an expense deduction requires that the expense was necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties. If you are working at home by choice, rather than commuting to your employer's place of business, then it is not an expense you are incurring necessarily, but by virtue of your choice to work from home.
 
Thanks Jon, that sounds pretty reasonable. Our employer pays a flat fee per month for broadband but nothing else. IT69 mentions heat and light separately so I think 3.2 x days for heat and light sounds like something that would not be challenged. Some of us were employed on a homeworking contract, others facilitated the employer's request to switch to working from home. So I think the first group can claim, the second can't. That would also fit with the guidance for the similar UK HMRC regulations on working from home (UK say you cannot claim unless your employer is insisting you work from home with no option to return to the office).

Anyone had any experience of making a homeworking expenses claim on the Form 12?
 
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