Working From Home Tax Relief in 2026/27: Can You Still Claim?

Table of Contents

Last Updated on – 21-09-2026

Employees can no longer claim working from home tax relief from HMRC for expenses incurred from 6 April 2026 onwards.

However, eligible employees can still backdate claims for the four previous tax years, while employers can continue reimbursing qualifying homeworking costs tax-free in certain circumstances.

The rules changed significantly for the 2026/27 tax year. Anyone searching for a working from home tax rebate therefore needs to distinguish between three very different situations: an old employee claim, a payment from an employer, or expenses claimed by someone who is self-employed.

Can Employees Still Claim Working From Home Tax Relief in 2026/27?

No. From 6 April 2026, employees can no longer claim Income Tax relief directly from HMRC for additional household expenses caused by working from home.

This applies even when an employee is required to work from home as part of their job.

The government announced the change at Budget 2025. The legislation introduced section 360B into ITEPA 2003, preventing employees from deducting these unreimbursed household expenses from their employment income from 2026/27 onwards.

Previously, qualifying employees could claim either:

A flat-rate expense of £6 per week, equivalent to £312 for a full year.
Their actual additional household costs if they could provide evidence.

The £312 was not a £312 cash refund. It was an amount on which Income Tax relief was calculated.

For example, a basic-rate taxpayer claiming £312 received tax relief of £62.40 rather than £312.

Why Was Working From Home Tax Relief Abolished?

HMRC said the change was intended to address non-compliance and improve fairness within the tax system.

According to the government’s policy paper, more than half of the homeworking claims checked were found to be ineligible. HMRC estimated that the removal of the relief would affect around 300,000 individuals.

For someone previously claiming the full £6 a week, the estimated annual effect is approximately:

Income Tax rate	£312 annual qualifying amount	Approximate tax saving previously available
20% basic rate	£312	£62.40
40% higher rate	£312	£124.80
45% additional rate	£312	£140.40

Scottish taxpayers have different Income Tax bands and rates. The value of a historical claim therefore depends on the taxpayer’s marginal Scottish Income Tax rate for the relevant year.

The change affects unreimbursed employee household expenses. It does not abolish every form of tax-efficient homeworking support.

How Did Working From Home Tax Relief Work Before April 2026?

Before 6 April 2026, employees could qualify where working from home was genuinely required by their employment rather than simply being a personal preference.

HMRC’s examples included situations where an employer had no office or where the nature and location of the job made homeworking necessary.

Employees generally could not claim simply because:

They preferred working remotely.
Their contract gave them the option of homeworking.
They voluntarily participated in hybrid working.
Their employer had an office but it was occasionally full.
Working at home reduced their commuting costs.

There was also no 30-hour-per-week rule or income-below-£50,000 requirement.

For eligible years, employees could generally claim £6 for every qualifying week or calculate their actual additional costs.

The £6 weekly amount was equivalent to £26 per month or £312 for a full 52-week year.

During the exceptional COVID-19 rules for 2020/21 and 2021/22, eligibility was temporarily widened.

In those years, qualifying employees required to work from home because of the pandemic could receive the full year’s relief even if they worked from home for only part of the year. Those special rules did not continue into later tax years.

Can You Still Backdate a Working From Home Tax Rebate?

Yes. This is now the most important part of working from home tax relief for employees.

Although no new relief arises for 2026/27, HMRC confirms that eligible employees can still claim for the previous four tax years.

As of the 2026/27 tax year, the relevant deadlines are:

Tax year	Period	Final date to make a claim
2022/23	6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023	5 April 2027
2023/24	6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024	5 April 2028
2024/25	6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025	5 April 2029
2025/26	6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026	5 April 2030

The deadline for a 2021/22 claim passed on 5 April 2026.

This means someone who was genuinely required to work from home during 2022/23 should consider eligibility before 5 April 2027, because that is now the oldest open year.

Eligibility evidence

For claims covering 2022/23 onwards, HMRC requires evidence showing that the employee had to work from home.

That could include an employment contract or other documentation from the employer confirming that homeworking was required.

This distinction matters because the old £6 flat rate did not normally require receipts showing £6 of additional expenditure, but it did not remove the requirement to actually qualify for the relief.

Employees claiming their actual expenses rather than the flat amount also need evidence of the costs, such as bills or receipts.

P87 or Self Assessment

Employment-expense claims can normally be made using HMRC’s relevant online process or form P87.

For postal claims, HMRC states that the total employment expenses claimed for each tax year must be £2,500 or less.

Claims above £2,500 normally require a Self Assessment tax return. Someone who already completes Self Assessment should include the claim through their tax return instead.

Anyone checking several years of PAYE may also want to check whether HMRC owes them a tax rebate, particularly where other employment expenses or tax-code problems may have caused an overpayment.

How Much Could a Backdated Working From Home Claim Be Worth?

A simple way to estimate the old flat-rate relief is:

£6 × qualifying weeks × marginal Income Tax rate

For example, assume an employee was required to work from home throughout the full 2025/26 tax year.

The qualifying amount would be:

£6 × 52 = £312

A basic-rate taxpayer paying 20% Income Tax could receive:

£312 × 20% = £62.40

A higher-rate taxpayer paying 40% could receive:

£312 × 40% = £124.80

An additional-rate taxpayer paying 45% could receive:

£312 × 45% = £140.40

Someone required to work from home for only 30 qualifying weeks would calculate:

£6 × 30 = £180

At a 20% tax rate:

£180 × 20% = £36 tax relief

This also explains why claims suggesting employees could routinely receive hundreds or thousands of pounds each year were incorrect.

The £6 weekly figure was the expense on which tax relief was calculated, not a £6 weekly payment from HMRC.

Scottish taxpayers should apply the Income Tax rate that applied to the relevant portion of their income for the historical tax year because Scottish rates differ from those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What Can Employers Still Pay Employees Who Work From Home?

The abolition of employee claims did not remove the employer reimbursement rules.

An employer can generally contribute towards reasonable additional household costs where an employee works at home regularly under an agreed homeworking arrangement.

HMRC currently allows an employer to pay up to:

£6 per week, or
£26 per month for monthly-paid employees

without needing evidence of the employee’s exact additional costs.

These qualifying payments can be made without deducting Income Tax or National Insurance.

The homeworking arrangement does not necessarily have to be written, although HMRC says it usually will be.

What matters is that there is an arrangement between the employer and employee and that the employee works from home regularly.

For example, a regular arrangement involving three days in the office and two days at home can qualify. Simply taking unfinished work home in the evening does not.

Payments above £6 per week

The £6 rate is a guideline rather than an absolute maximum.

An employer may reimburse a larger amount tax-free where it can demonstrate that the payment represents the employee’s genuine additional household costs.

Employers should retain appropriate evidence supporting payments above the guideline rate. If payments exceed the employee’s actual qualifying costs, the excess can become taxable earnings subject to PAYE and National Insurance.

Equipment and services

Employers can also provide certain equipment, services and supplies needed for homeworking without creating a taxable benefit where they are used for business and any private use is insignificant.

Examples can include:

Computers.
Laptops.
Tablets.
Work-related supplies.
Certain telecommunications equipment.

Different rules apply where the employee buys something personally and the employer reimburses them, so businesses should check the appropriate exemption before processing payments.

Which Homeworking Costs Can and Cannot Be Reimbursed Tax-Free?

Qualifying employer reimbursements focus on additional household costs caused by working at home.

Potential qualifying expenses can include reasonable additional costs for:

Heating.
Electricity.
Metered water.
Business telephone calls.
Certain additional internet costs.
Increased home insurance costs in qualifying circumstances.

However, expenses that would exist regardless of whether the employee worked from home do not normally qualify under the homeworking household-expense exemption.

That means employers cannot simply treat normal household costs such as these as tax-free homeworking expenses:

Cost	Normally covered by homeworking exemption?
Additional heating	Yes
Additional electricity	Yes
Business telephone calls	Potentially
Additional metered water	Potentially
Rent	No
Mortgage interest	No
Council Tax	No
Standard water rates	No
Building alterations	No
Furniture under the household-expense rule	No

HMRC specifically distinguishes expenses caused by working at home from expenses incurred simply to put someone in a position to work from home.

Broadband also needs particular care. If an employee already had a fixed-cost broadband package, reimbursing the existing subscription does not normally qualify as an additional household expense under section 316A.

If the employee had no connection and needed to obtain one specifically because of the homeworking arrangement, different treatment may apply.

Are Sole Traders and Self-Employed People Affected by the Abolition?

No. The abolition discussed above concerns the employment-income deduction available to employees.

Sole traders and qualifying partnerships continue to have separate rules for deducting legitimate business expenses when working from home.

They can generally choose between simplified expenses and calculating an appropriate business proportion of their actual costs.

Simplified expenses

HMRC’s current working-from-home simplified-expense rates are:

Business use of home	Flat rate
25 to 50 hours per month	£10 per month
51 to 100 hours per month	£18 per month
101 hours or more per month	£26 per month

Someone working fewer than 25 hours a month from home cannot use this particular homeworking flat rate.

Telephone and internet costs are not included in these flat rates, so an appropriate business proportion may potentially be calculated separately.

Simplified expenses are available to sole traders and business partnerships where there are no companies among the partners. They are not available to limited companies.

Actual household costs

Instead of using simplified expenses, a self-employed person may calculate an appropriate business proportion of relevant household expenses.

Depending on the circumstances, allowable costs can potentially include a proportion of:

Heating.
Electricity.
Council Tax.
Rent.
Mortgage interest.
Internet.
Telephone costs.

The allocation must be reasonable. HMRC gives examples based on factors such as the number of rooms used and the amount of time they are used for business.

This is very different from the employee rules and is why statements suggesting that self-employed people cannot claim homeworking costs are incorrect.

What Does the Change Mean for Limited Company Directors?

Directors need to distinguish between themselves personally and their limited company.

A company director is generally an employee or office holder for employment-tax purposes, so they cannot use the employee working-from-home deduction for unreimbursed household expenses arising from 6 April 2026 onwards.

However, their company may potentially reimburse qualifying additional homeworking costs under the employer rules where the required conditions are satisfied.

For a regular qualifying homeworking arrangement, the company may generally pay up to £6 per week or £26 per month without requiring evidence of the actual additional expenditure. Larger qualifying reimbursements require supporting evidence.

Directors should therefore avoid confusing the sole-trader simplified-expense system with limited-company expenses. The £10, £18 and £26 simplified homeworking rates are for eligible unincorporated businesses and cannot simply be claimed by a limited company director as if they were a sole trader.

Accurate records should also be retained showing the homeworking arrangement and the basis for any company reimbursement.

What Common Working From Home Tax Mistakes Should Be Avoided?

Common Working From Home Tax Mistakes

The biggest mistake in 2026/27 is submitting a new employee claim for household expenses incurred after 5 April 2026. That relief has ended.

Other common errors include:

Claiming because homeworking was optional rather than required for historical years.
Treating £312 as the amount of cash HMRC refunds.
Claiming ordinary commuting costs.
Including normal rent, mortgage payments or Council Tax in an old employee claim.
Assuming no evidence of expenditure meant no evidence of eligibility was required.
Claiming costs already reimbursed by an employer.
Using self-employed simplified expenses when operating through a limited company.
Claiming the same expense twice.
Filing a historical claim without checking the relevant four-year deadline.

HMRC’s finding that more than half of reviewed homeworking claims were ineligible makes it particularly important to retain evidence supporting older claims.

Which Other Employment Tax Reliefs Can Employees Still Claim?

The end of employee homeworking tax relief does not mean all job-expense deductions have disappeared.

Depending on individual circumstances, employees may still be able to claim tax relief for eligible:

Uniform, specialist clothing and work-tool costs.
Professional fees and subscriptions.
Business travel and overnight expenses.
Business mileage in a personally owned vehicle.
Certain equipment required for employment.

For uniforms and work clothing, HMRC permits eligible employees to claim either actual qualifying expenditure or an agreed flat-rate expense in appropriate occupations.

Anyone who pays for cleaning, repairing or replacing qualifying work clothing can read more about the uniform tax rebate.

Professional subscriptions may also qualify where the employee personally pays a membership fee required for their job or pays subscriptions to an HMRC-approved professional organisation relevant to the employment.

Business mileage remains another important area. For 2026/27, HMRC’s approved rate for an employee using their own car or van increased to 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles, followed by 25p per mile above that threshold.

Ordinary commuting between home and a permanent workplace does not qualify.

What Should Employees and Employers Do About Homeworking Costs Now?

Employees should first identify which situation applies.

Someone trying to claim for 2026/27 homeworking household expenses directly from HMRC cannot use the old relief.

Someone who was genuinely required to work from home between 2022/23 and 2025/26 may still have an eligible historical claim and should check the relevant deadline.

Employees currently working from home can also ask whether their employer operates a homeworking expense policy.

For businesses, a sensible written policy can set out:

Who is covered by the homeworking arrangement.
How regularly employees are expected to work from home.
Whether the business pays the £6 weekly or £26 monthly guideline amount.
Which actual additional expenses may be reimbursed.
What evidence is required for higher payments.
How equipment is provided and what level of private use is permitted.
How employees should submit and document expenses.

The employer reimbursement exemption can apply to voluntary regular homeworking arrangements even though the former employee deduction had much narrower historical eligibility conditions.

A simple employee request could explain that they regularly work from home under an agreed arrangement, ask whether the business operates a homeworking-expense reimbursement policy, and request details of any evidence or internal approval required.

FAQs About Working From Home Tax Relief

Can I claim working from home tax relief for 2026/27?

No. Employees cannot claim Income Tax relief from HMRC for additional household homeworking expenses arising from 6 April 2026 onwards.

Can I still claim the £6 a week working from home allowance?

Not directly from HMRC for 2026/27. Eligible employers can still pay up to £6 per week or £26 per month under qualifying homeworking arrangements without requiring evidence of the exact additional costs.

Can I backdate a working from home tax rebate?

Yes, if the historical eligibility conditions were met. During 2026/27, potential claims remain open for 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, subject to the four-year time limit.

How much was the £312 working from home tax rebate actually worth?

£312 was the full-year expense amount, not the refund. A 20% taxpayer could normally receive £62.40 of relief, while a 40% taxpayer could receive £124.80.

Can I claim rent or Council Tax as an employee working from home?

Not under the historical employee homeworking household-expense rules. Rent, mortgage interest, Council Tax and other costs that remain substantially unchanged regardless of homeworking were excluded.

Can self-employed people still claim for working from home?

Yes. Sole traders and qualifying partnerships remain subject to separate business-expense rules and can potentially use simplified homeworking expenses or calculate an appropriate proportion of actual costs.

Can a limited company pay a director for working from home?

Potentially, yes. Where the conditions for an employer homeworking arrangement are met, a company may reimburse qualifying additional household expenses, including the £6 weekly guideline amount, subject to HMRC’s rules.

Do I need receipts for an old £6-a-week claim?

Receipts showing £6 of spending were not normally required for the flat-rate amount, but HMRC requires evidence that employees claiming for 2022/23 onwards actually had to work from home. Actual-expense claims require evidence of the expenditure.

Can I claim commuting costs because I work from home?

Ordinary travel between home and a permanent workplace is generally not deductible. Separate tax rules can apply to qualifying business travel or journeys to temporary workplaces.