If you work from home regularly, you may be able to claim expenses that will reduce your tax bill - knowing what you can claim for can be a great help. This is a short guide on the key things to know...
IF YOU'RE SELF-EMPLOYED
Can I claim home expenses? If you work from home on a regular basis, then the answer is quite simply yes.
What can I claim? You can either claim a flat rate or specific expenses:
Flat rate
The current flat rate is £6/week for each week you worked from home.
Specific expenses
Alternatively you can calculate the specific expenses incurred as a result of you working from home.
You can claim for the following home expenses:
- Energy bills
- Metered water bills
- Internet bills
- Phone bills
- Mortgage interest
- Rent
- Council tax
- Home insurance
You can only claim for a portion of these expenses, typically a percentage that reflects the space in your house you use to work from home.
You can also claim for the following 'stationary' expenses:
- Postage
- Stationary
- Printing
- Print cartridges
- Software used in the business for under 2 years (or where you make regular payments for the software licence)
As you would expect, these stationary expenses can only be claimed where they were incurred wholly and exclusively for the business.
IF YOU'RE EMPLOYED
Can I claim home expenses? If you're employed you typically can't claim home expenses - the only scenario where you can is if you are specifically required to work from home by your employer and it must say so in your contract.
If so, what can I claim? You can either claim a flat rate or specific expenses:
Flat rate
The current flat rate is £6/week for each week you worked from home.
Specific expenses
Alternatively you can calculate the specific expenses incurred as a result of you working from home.
You can claim for:
- Energy bills
- Metered water bills
- Internet bills
- Phone bills
You can only claim for a portion of these expenses, typically a percentage that reflects the space in your house you use to work from home.
You cannot claim for expenses that would not change whether or not you worked from home - for example mortgage interest, rent, council tax and water rates.
[NOTE: This is a high level guide only, and the specific allowable expenses will be dependent on your wider financial situation]