IF you were told to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic you can claim tax relief from the government worth up to £125.
A refund is available to anyone who has worked at home for at least one day since April 6, 2020, meaning millions can claim the cash.
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It is designed to help Brits cover the extra costs of remote working such as higher heating or water bills, business calls or a new broadband connection.
Because the rebate runs for the tax year, the deadline for applying for your money back is less than a month away on April 5.
Once you have applied, the cash will be automatically returned with your next payslip and your tax code will be temporarily changed to reflect this.
In order to claim you need to have been told to work from home by your employer.
That means you can't get the cash if the business stayed open and you were allowed to go in but you chose not to.
Some companies have organised the payments themselves – paying staff an extra £6 a week tax-free.
But if you haven't received the refund via your workplace, you can claim the cash directly from HMRC.
How much will I get?
If you are claiming for yourself, the amount you get will depend on how much tax you usually pay.
You can claim tax relief on £6 per week from the tax year that ran from April 6 2020 to April 5 2021.
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. Over the course of the year this adds up to £124.80. This is available to anyone who earns more than £50,000 per year.
If your costs of working from home are higher than the weekly allowance, you can claim the exact costs back, but you'll need evidence such as receipts, contracts or bills.
You cannot claim for costs that would stay the same whether you were working at home or in an office, such as mortgage interest, rent or council tax.
You may also be able to claim for the previous tax year, particularly if you were asked to work from home at the beginning of the first lockdown in March.
The tax relief was applied to a lower rate of £4 per week in previous years, meaning the refund is worth £41.60 for basic rate payers and £83.20 for higher rate payers.
How to claim the rebate?
Most people can claim quickly and easily via a new government portal.
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.
If you usually submit a self-assessment tax return you need to claim via that process.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
A HMRC spokeswoman told the Sun that you can backdate claims for the past five years, so there is no need to panic if you miss the deadline.
If you apply after April 6, you won't get the cash as part of your salary – instead you will receive it as a lump sum.
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