Scope and Extent of Pandemic WFH assistance

Hi I am not sure this has been covered exactly but my situation is that I have been home-based by choice for at least a decade and a half with me mostly on site each week up until the pandemic when everything changed. Since this time, I am still at home but now mostly working from there, not needing to go "on-site" for over 3 years now. Up until now, as far as I can remember without referring back to my previous tax calculations, I have not claimed the working from home payments of £4 per week that was allowable for Tax Year 2019/2020 and £6 per week that was allowable for Tax Year 2020/2021. I have 3 questions: 1) How many weeks can I claim for in the 2019/2020 Tax Year? 2)I have seen elsewhere online that I can claim 2 weeks at £6 for 2021/2022 as well as for the full year 2020/2021 - is this true? 3) Am I right that I can put all this in my return for 2021/22 including the backdated amounts that I will be submitting very soon? Many thanks in advance for any assistance that you can give - I am hoping I can get this sorted very soon and before the 31/01/23 deadline. Regards GaryD

Hi,

An employee working at home will be entitled to a deduction for additional household expenses if all the following circumstances apply:

The work they do at home is work they have to do as part of their employment and represents all or part of the central duties of their employment
They cannot do their work without using the appropriate facilities
The appropriate facilities are not available at the employer's premises, or the employers premises are too far away to commute daily
The employee cannot choose whether they work at home or at their employer's premises.

An employee working at home will be entitled to a deduction for additional household expenses if their employer has told them to work at home because of coronavirus. COVID-19 (for 2019-2020 tax year this is restricted to the period for which you were instructed you had to work from home)

If you meet the requirement, you can claim for the number of weeks worked taking away annual leave.

You can only claim the 2021-2022 payment in the return and will need to amend your return for 2020-2021. For 2019 and 2020, you will need to claim overpayment relief and this must be in writing.

Thank you.

Hi, Thanks for the information, my employer did tell staff to work from home. 1) Would I be right in thinking that I need to check with my company's HR department as to when they instructed us to work from home and when they advised us that we could return to the office? Although neither of these events are significant to me inherently as I am home-based, it serves to quantify the extent of time that I have to remain at home due to COVID19 and therefore the extent (minus annual leave) of the claim I can make? 2)For the 2019/2020 Tax Year does the overpayment stem from the statement by the Prime Minister to the country when he advised everyone must stay at home? That is, 23/03/2020 to 05/04/2020, a period of 13 days? Many thanks for your help in this matter. Regards, GaryD

Hi,
 

1. Yes you should check the dates to see the number of weeks available.   2. Yes it is from 23/3/20 to 5/4/20  . Thank you.