Tax Refund: The hidden deduction that 40% of remote workers are missing

A surprising number of remote workers are leaving money on the table. Not by a little, but by a neat slice of tax relief that’s simple, legal and widely overlooked. The sort of thing that doesn’t make headlines, yet quietly pays a bill.

She scrolls HMRC, eyes flicking between kilowatt hours and a login screen, muttering about “hybrid weeks” and what counts. A cat vaults onto the windowsill like it pays rent, which, in a weird way, it almost does.

She thought tax refunds belonged to people with accountants and briefcases. She’s a copywriter with a wobbly chair and a good Wi‑Fi signal. Then she spots a line about working-from-home relief. The room goes quiet.

It’s sitting there, unclaimed.

The home-working tax relief you might be missing

There’s a specific HMRC relief for employees who must work from home and pick up extra household costs. It’s not a windfall, it’s relief on top-ups like heat, light and work calls. Surveys in the past two years suggest roughly 40% of UK remote workers haven’t claimed it at all.

The relief can be claimed as a flat rate of £6 a week, or you can calculate your actual extra costs. For a basic rate taxpayer, the flat rate is worth £62.40 a year (£312 x 20%). Higher-rate workers see more. Think of it as your electricity for those Friday video calls, shaved quietly off your tax bill.

Why do so many miss it? Hybrid working blurred the rules. The pandemic year allowed blanket claims that later stopped, and people tuned out. If your employer requires you to work from home and doesn’t reimburse your costs, you’re likely in scope. If it’s purely your choice, you’re not.

How to claim it without the headache

Go to GOV.UK and search “Claim tax relief for your job expenses”. Log in to your Government Gateway. Choose working-from-home expenses, pick the flat rate or enter actual costs, and submit. For most employees, the flat rate is simplest and takes minutes.

Key rules save wasted time. You must be required by your employer to work from home for the period claimed. Don’t claim if your employer already pays a homeworking allowance. Broadband only counts if it’s a new, work‑only contract in your name; existing packages shared with Netflix don’t fly.

Let’s talk real life. You can often backdate up to four tax years, so small amounts stack up. Keep light records if you go beyond the flat rate: weeks worked from home, bills, and rough notes. Let’s be honest: nobody logs every kettle boil or email sent from the sofa. HMRC isn’t asking for that.

“It’s not glamorous money, it’s grown-up money. The kind that keeps the radiator on and your tax code tidy.”

• Check: were you required to work from home?
• Pick flat rate (£6/week) unless your actual extra costs are clearly higher.
• Avoid double claims if your employer reimbursed you.
• Backdate what you can via the online form.
• Watch broadband and furniture rules — they’re stricter than people think.

The bigger story behind a small refund

Remote work isn’t just a lifestyle; it changed the flow of tiny costs. A mid-morning kettle, a second monitor on standby, the hallway light staying on in grey months. These are not glamorous expenses. They are quiet ones.

We’ve all had that moment where a winter bill lands and you wonder if the spare room is quietly draining your wallet. The home-working relief won’t rewrite your budget, but it recognises the shift from office to home. It says: the cost moved, so the tax follows.

And yes, you really can do it today.

FAQ :

• Can I claim if I’m hybrid and only at home part of the week?If your employer requires you to work from home for those days and doesn’t refund the costs, you can generally claim for that period. If it’s purely optional or for your convenience, you usually can’t.
• How is the money paid back?HMRC typically adjusts your tax code so you pay less tax through PAYE, or issues a rebate if appropriate. You won’t see a separate “cheque for £312”; you get tax relief on that amount.
• Can I backdate pandemic years?Yes within HMRC’s time limits. In 2020/21 and 2021/22 many could claim for the full year once they were required to work from home. Later years need you to have actually been required for the periods claimed.
• What about desks, chairs and monitors?If your employer provides or reimburses them, that’s usually tax-free. If you buy your own, claiming relief is tough unless the item is used wholly, exclusively and necessarily for work — most household use fails that test.
• I’m self-employed. Is this for me?Sole traders use a different set of rules, including simplified expenses based on hours worked at home or a proportion of actual costs. Separate from the employee relief described above.