Does the working from home tax relief apply if workplace is far for a daily commute?

Hello I'd like to check whether the Working From Home tax relief applies to my situation. I recolated last year having purchased a house in an affordable area before getting married, to have sufficient space. I reside approx 3 hours drive from the workplace, so a daily commute is not practical (travel time and fuel cost). My work is computer-based and not customer-facing, so I've a flexible working arrangement with my employer for me to work from home. I sacrificing the London weighting allowance, and I cover the additional cost of heating and electricity resulting from working at home. Occasionally, once or twice a year I've to attend the office and the employer reimburses the fuel cost for the commute. Based on the above, does the Working From Home tax relief apply? If applicable, what's the process to apply? Regards N

I'm not a HMRC Admin, but I am an accountant and I would say: A) no wfh relief due as it is you who is unavailable to your employer's premises rather than the employer's premises being unavailable to you and, B) your employer should be taxing you on the travel reimbursement, if they aren't that is. This page should detail the criteria. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32760

Hi N S,
You can claim if you meet the criteria listed here:
Claim tax relief for your job expenses
Thank you. 

Thank you for the guidance, HMRC Admin 25. Regards N

Dear HMRC Admin Please clarify the working from home tax relief eligibility criteria, as I'm finding a lot of mixed interpretations online and offline. Hence, I'm seeking clarity from the source. Working from home tax relief criteria: * "your job requires you to live far away from your office" (1) * "You can claim if your employer has not already paid your expenses and you have additional household costs as a result of working from home." (2) * "your job requires you to travel an unreasonable distance to and from your employer's premises on a daily basis" (2) My situation: * Working remotely as there is no practical alternative to working from home, because of not living within daily commuting distance. * Working from home is a permanent agreement in my contract. * The key point is that while relocating to a place of affordable housing was my choice, I'm not working from home by choice. It's because it is impractical distance to commute daily. So if remote contract was not an option, I would have to switch to another local/remote employer. * I incur additional heating/gas and electricity cost as a result of working from home. Question: If I have a permanent working from home contract because I reside unreasonable distance for a daily commute to and from my employer's premises, can I claim the working from home tax relief for the additional gas/electric cost? Or I cannot claim because this is a personal circumstance (i.e. the relief only applies if the employer specifically requires employees to live far from work)? Thanks N

Hi,
 

You cannot claim the relief as it was your choice to move and your employer as let you work from home. See further guidance at : Claim tax relief for your job expenses  . Thank you.

Dear HMRC Admin 17 Thank you very much for your clear guidance to conclude this thread. Much appreciated. Regards N