Working From Home Tax Relief 2026/27: How to Claim £6 Per Week

The WFH flat rate in 2026/27

Employees who are required by their employer to work from home can claim a flat-rate deduction of £6 per week (£312 per year) without needing to provide receipts or evidence of actual costs.

The word "required" matters. HMRC will only accept the claim where:

• Your employer has no office space available for you, or
• The nature of your job means you must work from home (e.g. your team is based elsewhere), or
• Your employment contract specifies that your home is your primary place of work.

Choosing to work from home when an office is available does not qualify, even if your employer permits it.

Tax saving from the flat rate

The £6/week deduction reduces your taxable income:

Not life-changing -- but worth claiming if you are eligible.

Partial year claims

You can claim for the number of weeks you were required to work from home, not just a full year. If you worked from home for 20 weeks during the year, the deduction is 20 x £6 = £120.

How employees claim WFH relief

Option 1 -- HMRC's online claim service (P87)

The simplest route is HMRC's online tool at gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home. You:

1. Log in with your Government Gateway credentials.
2. Select "Working from home" under employment expenses.
3. Enter the number of weeks or the flat rate amount.
4. HMRC adjusts your tax code -- you receive the relief through reduced PAYE deductions going forward.

HMRC typically updates the tax code within 2-3 weeks. The change appears on your payslip as an increased personal allowance or a relief code.

Option 2 -- Self Assessment tax return

If you complete a Self Assessment return (e.g. because you have other income to declare), you claim WFH relief in the employment expenses section (SA102). Enter the total amount (weeks x £6) in the "Other expenses and capital allowances" box.

Option 3 -- Claiming for previous years

You can back-claim WFH relief for up to 4 tax years. For 2026/27 you can currently claim back to 2022/23. Use the HMRC P87 online tool and select the relevant tax year.

Note: The 2020/21 and 2021/21 COVID-era claims had a special blanket concession allowing the full annual amount regardless of actual days worked. That concession expired after 2022/23. Any claim for 2023/24 onwards is subject to the standard "required to work from home" test.

Employer-funded WFH allowance

Employers can pay employees a tax-free allowance of up to £6/week (£26/month) to cover additional household costs from working at home. This is separate from the employee's own claim.

Key points:

• Payments up to this limit are exempt from income tax and NI for the employee.
• The employer can pay more than £6/week, but the excess becomes a taxable benefit.
• The employer does not need to reimburse receipts -- the flat rate is accepted without evidence.
• Payments above £6/week require the employee to provide evidence of actual costs.

If your employer already pays you a WFH allowance of £6/week or more, you cannot also claim the employee relief -- you cannot double-dip.

Actual costs -- the alternative to flat rate

Employees who have higher home office costs than the £6/week flat rate can claim their actual additional costs instead. This requires evidence and careful calculation.

Qualifying costs include:

• Additional heating and lighting costs attributable to working from home.
• Business phone calls (not line rental).
• Metered water (if the role increases consumption significantly -- rare).

What is excluded:

• Mortgage capital repayments.
• Mortgage interest (employees cannot claim this -- only self-employed via the actual cost method).
• Council Tax.
• Broadband (unless you have no broadband for personal use and install it solely for work).

In practice, the actual-cost method rarely beats the flat rate for employees unless energy bills are exceptionally high and the employer does not pay any WFH allowance.

Self-employed WFH deductions

Self-employed workers (sole traders and partners) have two methods to claim home office costs.

Method 1 -- Simplified flat rate (recommended for most)

HMRC's simplified expense flat rates for self-employed people are based on the number of hours per month spent working from home:

For someone working 101+ hours/month from home all year, this gives £312/year -- the same as the employee flat rate.

The simplified rate can be used without any records of actual costs. It covers heating, light, metered water, and internet costs. It does not cover mortgage interest or rent.

Method 2 -- Actual cost apportionment

More complex but potentially higher: calculate the business proportion of actual home running costs.

Steps:

1. Calculate total relevant home costs for the year (heat, light, broadband, and -- for self-employed only -- mortgage interest or rent).
2. Apportion by area: divide your home office floor area by total home floor area.
3. Apportion by time: multiply by the fraction of time the room is used for work.
4. The resulting figure is your allowable deduction.

Example:

• Annual home costs: heat £1,200 + light £400 + broadband £600 + rent £12,000 = £14,200.
• Home has 5 rooms; office is 1 room = 20% by area.
• Office used for work 8 hours/day, 5 days/week out of 168 hours/week = 24% of time.
• Allowable deduction: £14,200 x 20% x 24% = £682/year.

Keep detailed records to support an actual cost claim.

Warning on capital gains: if you claim a dedicated room exclusively for business under the actual cost method, this may taint principal private residence (PPR) relief when you sell your home. HMRC applies PPR strictly if any part of the property is used exclusively for business. Consider using the room for personal use occasionally to preserve full PPR relief.

Capital allowances for home office equipment

Whether you are employed or self-employed, you may be able to claim for home office equipment separately:

• Employees: can claim for tools and equipment used for work that the employer has not reimbursed, via Self Assessment or P87.
• Self-employed: capital allowances (annual investment allowance of £1,000,000) apply to equipment purchased for business use. A desk, monitor, or laptop used entirely for work qualifies.

Making Tax Digital and WFH records

From April 2026, sole traders with turnover above £50,000 are required to use MTD-compatible software and submit quarterly updates to HMRC. WFH costs (whether flat rate or actual) are entered as allowable expenses in the digital records.

Summary -- which method to use

Sources

• HMRC: Claim tax relief for your job expenses: working from home
• HMRC: Simplified expenses if you're self-employed
• HMRC: Use of home as office (self-employed)