£6 tax relief per week for home working costs - a pittance?

[suggestionsplease1]

I'm just trying to get my head around this - so if you're forced into home working due to Covid you can claim tax relief on £6/week for additional expenses due to extra heating/ electricity use....so for a 20% tax payer that amounts to getting back £1.20 per week?!

My additional expenditure on gas/electric due to Covid will far exceed that, as I imagine most people's will....is this not a bit of a cop out?!

There seems to be something about employers can make this additional £6 payment per week to staff as well - that hasn't happened for us - is it really happening for employees elsewhere?

Finally, I'm going to try to put in more accurate figures as I have to fill in self assessments anyway, but I am hampered by the fact that I don't have a smart meter. I thought one way to do it would be to compare a previous year's expenditure when I wasn't working from home with the present year's expenditure - would that be acceptable as proof of additional costs do you think? (I know there's only going to be about 6/7 weeks worth of homeworking to account for for this self assessment but it will be more relevant for next years 31st Jan deadline.)

[PaperMonster]

@AldiAisleofCrap having the heating on. We’re all electric here and it costs a bloomin fortune. On the days I don’t usually work, I’m in and out of the house, cleaning and various other things I do so I don’t normally have the heating on then either other than usual morning/evening times. Weekends cost us about £10 a day, weekdays about £4.50-£5 normally but with having my child at home too and her being sedentary doing school work, I need the heating on then too.

[BashfulClam]

I’ve saved £4K so far on my commute...it’s been good for some people.

[PinkiOcelot]

God, it’s always a race to the bottom on here!

[Didyousaynutella]

I have to commute to work 40 min at great expenditure to me. I pay for parking as well. I have no other choice due to my job ( nhs). You have no idea how lucky you are to be able to work from home. You will save a fortune. It’s the commuters that should be getting tax relief but the other way around!

[BubblyBarbara]

The other good point is the odds of HMRC actually raising an investigation into your small fry claims is pretty close to zero

[ToniTheDonkey]

@Didyousaynutella

I have to commute to work 40 min at great expenditure to me. I pay for parking as well. I have no other choice due to my job ( nhs). You have no idea how lucky you are to be able to work from home. You will save a fortune. It’s the commuters that should be getting tax relief but the other way around!

Although I’m not NHS, I have also had to go to my workplace every day, so I’m still paying for petrol and parking, still spending time in the car driving to work.

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Omg I save a fortune wfh. No commute cost, far less office wear, I'm not wearing out thin soled smart shoes, not buying expensive lunches - far more time to make with no commute.

[Kitkat151]

@Motnight

Kitkat151 I work for the NHS and am receiving the £6 week tax free with my salary.

I bet you’re not.....I bet you are claiming tax relief on £6 a week so getting an actual £1.20 a week ( or £2.40 a week if you are a higher tax payer).....like everyone else in the NHS

[cardibach]

@arethereanyleftatall

Wow, I can't believe they're giving a rebate for this. Unbelievably generous given how much we all need to pay back. I can't imagine that there are very many people at all who are paying more out in electricity than they're getting back through not paying travel costs and time. Wow. Yabu.

I am. I live a mile from work (still drive as I’m a teacher and often have pots to carry) so my petrol saving is minimal. Heating and electric are costing quite a lot.

[BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou]

I’ve been working from home a couple of days a week as well as going into the office (school). I can’t claim this allowance as I don’t actually earn enough to pay tax!

I’m not complaining though - I’ve still got a job, several people at my school were made redundant in July.......

[AldiAisleofCrap]

@PaperMonster having the heating on. We’re all electric here and it costs a bloomin fortune. get two of these they will pay for themselves in less than three weeks and cost 2p an hour to run. I wouldn’t be without mine.

[PaperMonster]

@AldiAisleofCrap thanks for the suggestion, I shall have a look!!

[Mumski45]

YABU

It is relief ON £6 per week which is pittance but there is an alternative if you can prove extra costs of wfh


From HMRC Website:

You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work at home on a regular basis, either for all or part of the week. This includes if you have to work from home because of coronavirus (COVID-19).

You cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home.

Additional costs include things like heating, metered water bills, home contents insurance, business calls or a new broadband connection. They do not include costs that would stay the same whether you were working at home or in an office, such as mortgage interest, rent or council tax.

You may also be able to claim tax relief on equipment you’ve bought, such as a laptop, chair or mobile phone.
How much you can claim
You can either claim tax relief on:

£6 a week from 6 April 2020 (for previous tax years the rate is £4 a week) - you will not need to keep evidence of your extra costs
the exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred above the weekly amount - you’ll need evidence such as receipts, bills or contracts
You’ll get tax relief based on the rate at which you pay tax. For example, if you pay the 20% basic rate of tax and claim tax relief on £6 a week you would get £1.20 per week in tax relief (20% of £6).

[Haenow]

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Omg I save a fortune wfh. No commute cost, far less office wear, I'm not wearing out thin soled smart shoes, not buying expensive lunches - far more time to make with no commute.

Many people cannot afford to buy “expensive lunches”. I don’t have access to a fridge at work and I make do with lunches from home .

[An0n0n0n]

Yeah I'm pissed off too. Work are having an absolute fortune with office closures but keep telling us we are lucky and to eat the costs.

[RollOn2022]

The savings businesses are making are huge. It may actually offset some redundancies in the future.

[rwalker]

@RollOn2022
The savings businesses are making are huge. It may actually offset some redundancies in the future.


Should imagine most ore still paying for empty offices

[Kazzyhoward]

[quote rwalker]@RollOn2022
The savings businesses are making are huge. It may actually offset some redundancies in the future.

Should imagine most ore still paying for empty offices[/quote]
Yep, you can't just cancel the lease and stop paying.

Most businesses will be suffering loss of trade due to supply chain problems or staff off sick/isolating/looking after kids who are less/non productive.

[Mousehole10]

Why should it be up to the government/tax payers to pay for this? Take it up with your company if you want more money. Some people honk the government should pay for everything!

[The3Ls]

NHS therapist who has had to purchase own desk chair and therapy tools as we were told to work form home. Some commuting costs saved but not much - still face to face 50% of the time. But watching colleagues who would love the privilege of working form home even some of the time struggle on plus years of no funding and topping up has probably made me think this is far to normal and actually a good deal

[Ontheroadtorecovery]

Not everyone is saving on commute though I wish there would be some realisation that this is hard for some people. No one isn't greatful to still have their job right now but sitting working in the cold is not fun. Everyone is entitled to have a moan sometimes or are we all just supposed to keep quiet as someone else will have it tougher?

[Redrivershore]

It's most likely better paid people that are saving on commutes, special work clothes and expensive lunches, the lower paid are likely just having to pay out more in energy costs for the privilege of working at home and not making any savings elsewhere.

[RollOn2022]

@Rwalker and @Kazzyhoward agree. However expenses for travel, hotels, meals and entertainment will be nil if not minimal. I know my company has saved huge amounts monthly and that’s secured roles for a longer period of time. I accept not all companies would take such an approach.

[Serin]

The MPs awarded themselves £10k each for working from home costs. Only one (Jeremy Corbyn) declined it.