If you are an employee, the HMRC working from home allowance has gone for the current year. From 6 April 2026, you can no longer claim tax relief from HMRC for extra household costs, including the old flat rate of £6 a week. You can still make backdated claims for the 4 previous tax years if you were required to work at home. Employers can still pay up to £6 a week (£26 a month) tax-free to staff who work at home under homeworking arrangements. Self-employed people still have their own flat rates of £10, £18 or £26 a month.
What changed in April 2026
The change was announced at Budget 2025 and is now law. Finance Act 2026 inserted section 360B into the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, which says that "no deduction from earnings is allowed" for additional household expenses an employee incurs in doing the job at home. It applies for 2026/27 and later years.
The HMRC impact note gives the reason: after checking claims, HMRC found more than half were ineligible. It also puts the cost to a typical claimant at £62 a year for a basic rate taxpayer and £124 for a higher rate taxpayer. That is £6 a week over a year, relieved at 20% or 40%.
The change only affects costs your employer does not reimburse. Employer payments are untouched (see below).
Backdated claims for earlier years
The relief has gone for the current year, but HMRC's working at home guidance confirms you can still claim for the 4 previous tax years, so 2022/23 to 2025/26. The time limit in section 43 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 is 4 years from the end of the tax year. The 2022/23 claim therefore has to be made by 5 April 2027.
The old rules still apply to those years, and they are stricter than many people remember:
- You must have had to work from home. For example, your employer had no office, or the job needed you to live far from one. Choosing to work from home does not qualify. This includes a hybrid contract that lets you work from home, or an office that is sometimes full;
- Evidence is required. Claims at £6 a week for 2022/23 or later need evidence that you had to work from home. Claims for actual costs also need receipts or bills;
- Only extra work costs count. For example, business phone calls and gas and electricity for your work area. Rent and broadband, which you use privately as well, do not;
- Relief is at your tax rate. At £6 a week, a basic rate taxpayer saves £1.20 a week;
- Self Assessment filers claim through the return. They cannot use HMRC's online employee claim service.
The rules on being required to work at home are why HMRC found so many claims ineligible. If you claimed in past years only because you chose to work at home, the claim was not valid. It is better to correct it yourself than to wait for HMRC to raise it.
Employers can still pay £6 a week tax-free
The employer route is a separate exemption, section 316A ITEPA 2003, and it has not changed. An employer can reimburse reasonable additional household expenses with no income tax or National Insurance, if the employee works at home under homeworking arrangements. That means an arrangement with the employer under which the employee regularly performs some or all of their duties at home.
| Tax years | Tax-free amount without evidence |
|---|---|
| 2020/21 onwards (including 2026/27) | £6 a week, or £26 a month for monthly paid staff |
| 2012/13 to 2019/20 | £4 a week, or £18 a month |
The employee does not need to keep records to support the £6 rate. It is a guideline, not a cap: an employer can pay more if it has evidence that the employee's extra costs are higher. Any amount above the employee's actual extra costs counts as earnings and goes through payroll with PAYE and Class 1 National Insurance.
Two points matter for employers in practice. First, the exemption depends on an agreed arrangement for regular homeworking. An informal "work from home when you like" culture is weaker ground. Second, homeworking equipment such as laptops is exempt if it is used only for business, or private use is insignificant. Reimbursing broadband is exempt only if the employee did not already have a connection, needs it to work from home, and uses it mainly for business. Pay the £6 a week to an employee who is not regularly working at home, and it becomes ordinary pay.
For owner-managers, the same rules apply to a director working from home for their own company. A company can pay the £6 a week tax-free through a proper homeworking arrangement, but this is a reimbursement by the company. The personal claim to HMRC that has now been abolished is a different thing.
Self-employed: use of home still deductible
Section 360B only affects employees. Sole traders and partnerships with no company partners can still deduct the cost of using their home for the business, either by apportioning actual costs or by using HMRC's simplified expenses flat rates under section 94H of ITTOIA 2005:
| Hours worked at home in the month | Flat rate for the month |
|---|---|
| 25 to 50 | £10 |
| 51 to 100 | £18 |
| 101 or more | £26 |
You have to work at least 25 hours in the month to claim anything, so the most you can claim is £312 a year. The flat rate does not cover phone or internet costs, so claim the business share of those separately. If you work from home a lot and have high costs, an actual-cost calculation based on rooms and hours used often gives more, but it needs records. Limited companies cannot use simplified expenses. For everything else a sole trader can deduct, see our guide on what you can claim as self-employed.
Quick answers
- Can I claim £6 a week for 2026/27? No, not as an employee claiming from HMRC;
- Can I still claim for last year? Yes, for 2025/26 and the three years before it, if you were required to work from home and have evidence;
- Can my employer still pay me for working at home? Yes. Up to £6 a week is tax-free under a regular homeworking arrangement, and more if backed by evidence;
- Does this affect sole traders? No. Use-of-home costs remain deductible from trading profits.
Acumon's employment tax team reviews homeworking policies and expense arrangements for employers. Our Self Assessment service handles backdated claims and use-of-home calculations for individuals and sole traders.