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

Last updated 12 June 2026

Can employees still claim working from home tax relief in 2026/27?

No. For the current tax year the relief is off the table for employees: gov.uk's guidance says plainly that "from the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, you will not be able to claim tax relief for working from home". What survives is the backdating rule — "you can still claim for the 4 previous tax years" — so claims for 2022/23 through 2025/26 remain live on a rolling four-year window:

Gov.uk's wording covers the 2026/27 year specifically and does not say whether the relief will return for 2027/28, so treat any claims about future years with caution. If you have an eligible back year, the practical message is simple: the 2022/23 window shuts on 5 April 2027, so claim sooner rather than later.

Who qualifies for a backdated employee claim?

Only people who had to work from home in the year they are claiming for. Gov.uk gives two qualifying examples: your job requires you to live far away from your office, or your employer does not have an office. Hybrid and voluntary home working has been excluded since the post-pandemic tightening.

You cannot claim for a year in which you chose to work from home, including where:

• your employment contract lets you work from home some or all of the time, or
• your employer has an office, but you cannot go there sometimes because it's full.

Eligible claims cover the extra costs of working — gov.uk's examples are business phone calls and gas and electricity for your work area. Costs with mixed private and business use, such as rent or broadband access, are excluded. When you claim, you must send evidence that you had to work from home (for £6-a-week claims covering 2022/23 or later, and for all exact-amount claims), plus receipts or bills if you are claiming exact amounts. Claims go through gov.uk's online service — or through your return if you complete Self Assessment.

How much is the £6 a week flat rate worth?

The relief is on £6 a week, not £6 in cash: you get tax back at the rate you pay. Gov.uk's own example is a basic-rate taxpayer receiving £1.20 a week (20% of £6). Over a full year of 52 weeks that compounds to a modest but claimable sum, and a backdated claim can cover up to four years at once:

Annual and four-year figures assume 52 claimable weeks in each year; Scottish rates differ — see our guide to the 2026/27 tax bands for how marginal rates work. The alternative to the flat rate is claiming the exact extra amount you spent, which needs receipts, bills or contracts as evidence. For most employees the flat rate wins on simplicity; exact costs only beat it where your additional work-related bills clearly exceeded £6 a week and you can prove it.

How does use-of-home work if you're self-employed?

The 2026/27 pause does not apply to the self-employed, because sole traders do not use the employee relief at all — they deduct use-of-home costs as a business expense on their Self Assessment return. The easiest route is the simplified-expenses flat rate, available if you work 25 hours or more a month from home:

The rate can change month by month. Gov.uk's example: working 40 hours from home for 10 months and 60 hours in 2 months gives 10 × £10 plus 2 × £18 — a £136 deduction for the year. Two caveats: the flat rate does not include telephone or internet, which you claim separately as a business proportion of the actual bills, and simplified expenses are only open to sole traders and ordinary partnerships — limited companies (and partnerships with a corporate partner) cannot use them. To see what a use-of-home claim does to your overall bill, run your figures through our sole trader tax calculator.

Flat rate or actual costs: which is better for sole traders?

The flat rate caps out at £312 a year (12 months at £26), so anyone with a genuinely dedicated home office and meaningful bills should at least price up the actual-costs method. Under it, you claim a business proportion of household running costs — gov.uk lists heating, electricity, Council Tax, mortgage interest or rent, and internet and telephone use — divided by any reasonable method, such as the number of rooms used for business or the time spent working from home.

Gov.uk's worked example: a home with 4 rooms, one used only as an office, and a £1,120 annual electricity bill supports a £280 claim (£1,120 ÷ 4). If that room were used for business only one day a week, the claim falls to £40 (£280 ÷ 7). Scale that across heating, Council Tax and rent or mortgage interest, and actual costs can comfortably beat £312 — at the price of more record-keeping. Two further rules to watch: you cannot claim use-of-home (or any expenses) on income where you use the £1,000 trading allowance, and the claim sits alongside everything else deductible in our guide to self-employed allowable expenses.

Does Making Tax Digital change use-of-home claims?

The amounts do not change, but the admin might. From 6 April 2026, sole traders whose gross self-employment and property income was over £50,000 on their 2024–25 return must keep digital records and send HMRC cumulative quarterly updates (standard deadlines 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May), so use-of-home claims need logging in compatible software as you go. Check whether you are in scope with our MTD qualifying income checker, and map your filing dates with the quarterly deadline calculator. Everyone else still claims through the annual return — the 2026/27 return is due by 31 January 2028 — and our free UK tax calculators cover the rest of the sums.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Claim tax relief for your job expenses: working from home (gov.uk), Simplified expenses if you're self-employed (gov.uk) and Expenses if you're self-employed (gov.uk), verified 12 June 2026. Estimates for information only — not regulated tax advice.