Answers · UK 2025/26
Can I claim work-from-home tax relief?
From April 2022 employees can only claim WFH tax relief if their employer requires them to work from home — choosing to do so does not qualify. Eligible employees get £6 a week of tax-free expenses, worth £62 a year at 20% or £125 at 40%. Self-employed workers use the simplified flat-rate or actual-cost method.
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HMRC tightened the rules in April 2022. To claim the employee WFH allowance you must have no appropriate facilities at your employer's premises, or your job requires you to live too far away to attend daily, or pandemic-style closure forces home working. A personal preference, hybrid arrangement or "office is too noisy" does not meet the test. Where eligible, claim £6/week (£312/year) without receipts via your Personal Tax Account; a basic-rate taxpayer saves £62.40 and a higher-rate £124.80. To claim more, keep receipts for the additional cost of heating, lighting and metered water of the work area only. Self-employed sole traders use either HMRC's simplified expenses — £10/£18/£26 per month depending on hours worked from home (25-50, 51-100, 100+) — or the actual cost method, apportioning a proportion of council tax, mortgage interest, utilities, broadband and insurance by room and time used (e.g. 1 of 6 rooms × 40 hours/168 hours). The actual method usually wins for full-time home-based businesses but creates a small CGT exposure if a room is used exclusively for business when you sell.
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This answer is informational only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Figures are for the 2025/26 UK tax year. See our methodology and sources.