How to claim cash back as working from home adds £131 to energy bills

MILLIONS of Brits working from home could claim back cash to cover the extra costs of heating their homes this winter.

Rising case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have forced workers home from offices again – and it could add an extra £131 to energy bills.

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It comes as energy prices rocket pushing up bills for households, and there are warnings that they could rise further in the new year.

According to Energyhelpline working form home is adding an extra £131 on average to energy bills over the winter.

The calculations take into account the savings made from going to the office, like travel the Daily Mail reports, but workers still remain out of pocket.

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 and it could be worth £125.

Nearly 1million workers have already claimed the money back – 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 of people 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.

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.