Working from home?

If you are one of the 800,000 people in Ireland working from home due to the pandemic, then there is some light relief available.

Although recently enhanced, light is an apt description for what's on offer from Revenue for e-workers. Whilst, it won't make you rich, it is still worth reviewing and claiming your entitlements.

The relief can be claimed in one of two ways –

1. A tax-free payment by your employer of €3.20 per day worked from home.
2. A claim for tax relief on expenses incurred as a result of working from home.

Your employer is not obliged to pay you the daily allowance and is most likely going to request that you claim from Revenue. So, what can you claim and how do you go about it?

The relief is limited to a percentage of your light and heat (10%) and broadband expenses (30%). The expenses must be paid by you and apportioned based on number of days worked from home.

As with all reliefs, the best way to claim is by completing a tax return.This means you can claim your e-working tax relief and other reliefs to which you may be entitled when you file your 2020 tax return next year. If you are married or in a civil partnership and are jointly assessed for tax purposes, it will be the ‘assessable spouse’ who files the tax return.

Albeit, a modest recompense for being excluded from the office for so long, the habit of claiming tax reliefs is well worth doing and is one that can add up over time. Full information and worked examples are available from the Revenue website.

You can also take a look at our earlier blog article ‘Use it or lose it’, which provides information on completing a tax return, the four-year rule and optimising your employee benefits.

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