It takes two minutes to check if you can make a claim online
Millions of people could claim back £125 from HMRC in the form of a covid tax rebate. The reminder for people to see if they are eligible comes as workers brace for higher National Insurance contributions from April next year.
The tax relief is available to anyone that was asked to work from home by their employer – and the money can go towards expenses such as bills, lunches and other extra costs, instead.
Sarah Coles, money expert at Hargreaves Lansdown told The Mirror: “The government has started hiking taxes to claw back some of the money it spent on helping us get through the pandemic.
“Anyone who is working and earning over the minimum threshold will face higher NI as a result, and we can’t be certain that this is the last of the bad news on tax hikes.
“It means we should take advantage of any tax relief we can get, and the working from home rebate is a no-brainer if you work for an employer.
“If you’ve been required to work from home at all, and your costs have increased as a result, you can claim for a whole year.”
You only need to have worked one day from home to claim the refund – but it only applies if you’ve been told to work from home by your employer, ie not out of choice.
If you are a sole-trader, you can claim the money through ‘work expenses’ on your next self-assessment.
If you’re employed, you can claim the rebate from your employer or HMRC directly.
Taxpayers who are eligible can claim tax relief based on the rate at which they pay tax.
For example, if an employed worker pays the 20% basic rate of tax and claims tax relief on £6 a week, they would receive £1.20 a week in tax relief (20% of £6 a week) towards the cost of their household bills.
You can claim £2.40 a week if you pay the higher 40% tax rate.
Coles added: “You don’t need to produce paperwork to prove it and you don’t need to fill out a self-assessment tax return, because the Treasury launched a site to make it easier.
You won’t receive a cheque or a payment into your account, instead your tax code will be changed for the year, so you’ll get the tax relief that way.
Workers can find out more and make a claim at gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home.
It takes less than 2 minutes to find out if you’re eligible for tax back.
To claim the money, you’ll need a Government Gateway user ID and password.
If you don’t already have one, creating a Government Gateway ID usually takes about 10 minutes. It works best if you have:
- your National Insurance number
- a recent payslip or P60 or a valid UK passport
You’ll then receive the tax relief directly through your salary.
Source: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/millions-people-could-eligible-125-21551179
