Millions of workers can claim £125 in new year payout boost – here’s how to apply

BRITS can claim cash to cover the costs of working from home – you only have to have worked at least one day from your home office to do so.

Now that 2021 is coming to a close, it’s worth cashing in on all those times you were stuck working in the kitchen or from the dining room table.

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Millions who have been working from home could claim back cash as early as January, to help cover the extra costs of heating – especially as the cold bites.

Households could claim a payout boost just as the new year starts – and it’s welcomed by many who are pinching their pennies now that Christmas is done and dusted.

A lot of us will be starting to think about the return to work after the festive break.

But rising cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus forced workers home from offices once again this month.

That simple little factor though, could be adding on an extra £131 to energy bills nationwide, according to Energyhelpline

Energy prices have already skyrocketed in the end part of this year, pushing up bills for hundreds of households.

There are even warnings that they could rise further in the new year.

Working from home can add to your energy bill as you put the heating on more and plug in laptops and screeens.

But you can claim back cash to help cover this cost – worth as much as £125.

Nearly 1million workers have already claimed the money back, and so can anyone who has worked from home even for a single day.

You can claim working from home tax relief if you’ve been told to work from home by your employer.

It’s thought that up to three million people are eligible for the tax back so millions are missing out.

Claims can be made for previous years too, so anyone who has never claimed and was eligible in the past four years could be owed up to £500 in total.

Now that the year is coming to an end, it’s worth putting in your claims for the past year, especially as we’ve seen multiple work from home orders put in place – so its worth claiming for the time that you were inevitably at home.

How much is working from home tax relief?

You can claim tax relief on £6 per week for the current tax year.

If you are a basic rate tax payer, the relief is worth 20%, which means that you’ll get £1.20 per week.

Over the course of the year, this adds up to £62.40, for anyone earning between £12,500 and £50,000.

If you pay higher rate tax your relief will be worth 40% or £2.40 per week.

This adds up to £124.80 for the year and is available to anyone who earns more than £50,000 per year.

You can claim for last year too (the tax year runs from April to April) if the same applies – your employer required you to work from home, even for just a single day.

HMRC will, in fact, accept backdated claims for up to four years

You won’t be able to claim the tax back if your employer is covering your working from home expenses already.

You also can’t claim if you’re self-employed – since you work for yourself you can claim expenses on your tax return.

How can I claim working from home tax relief?

HMRC has a handy online tool to help you submit a claim for this year and last year.

You’ll need a Government Gateway user ID and password, which you can create online in less than 10 minutes.

Make sure you have your National Insurance number and a recent payslip, P60, or a valid UK passport to hand.

Once the application has been approved, your tax code for the 2021 to 2022 tax year will be adjusted automatically.

You will then see the tax relief directly through your salary, and will continue to receive the adjustment until April 5, 2022.

You won’t get a one off payment when claiming for this year, instead it will be included as part of your weekly or monthly payments from your employer.

But for claims for last year, you’ll get he money as a lump sum through your salary.

Here’s how using your boiler wrong could be pushing up your heating bills.

And your radiators too – plus how to fix it.