# working from home tax credit?



## Ndiddy (25 May 2020)

how do you apply for this and has anyone succeeded getting back form revenue?

what proof is needed?


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## huskerdu (25 May 2020)

Everyone you should need is here.






						Revenue eBrief No. 045/20
					

e-Working and Tax




					revenue.ie


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## Tickle (25 May 2020)

Revenue are taking the Mick when it comes to the amount an employer is allowed to cover (3.20) for working from home expenses vs an what employee is allowed to claim from Revenue. Using Revenue's example in section 2.4 of Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13, they would allow up to a *€288* payment from an employer for 90 days e-workong, compared to *€43* for a claim by an employee for the same period. 

I welcome the fact that Revenue have provided clear guidance on how to calculate a claim, however it's not clear why there would be such a large variance between the two scenarios. 

Furthermore, in my view, only allowing 10% of the utility bills to be attributable for the working days is laughable. In my situation, most of the heat and light would be used during a working day at home (an extra 8 hours) in order to be comfortable. Its unreasonable to assert that only an office space can be considered and not common areas such as bathroom and kitchen, which should also be lighted and heated appropriately during a working day.


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## torblednam (25 May 2020)

Tickle said:


> Revenue are taking the Mick when it comes to the amount an employer is allowed to cover (3.20) for working from home expenses vs an what employee is allowed to claim from Revenue. Using Revenue's example in section 2.4 of Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13, they would allow up to a *€288* payment from an employer for 90 days e-workong, compared to *€43* for a claim by an employee for the same period.
> 
> I welcome the fact that Revenue have provided clear guidance on how to calculate a claim, however it's not clear why there would be such a large variance between the two scenarios.
> 
> Furthermore, in my view, only allowing 10% of the utility bills to be attributable for the working days is laughable. In my situation, most of the heat and light would be used during a working day at home (an extra 8 hours) in order to be comfortable. Its unreasonable to assert that only an office space can be considered and not common areas such as bathroom and kitchen, which should also be lighted and heated appropriately during a working day.



Well as you said yourself what you’ve been given is guidance, it’s up to you to vouch whatever claim you ultimately choose to make. The guidance is simply setting out the broad rationale, and that they aren’t going to quibble or query relatively low value claims.

If you’re living alone then you may be correct. My wife and kids have been here using the great majority of the light & heat in the house, throughout the last two months. The incremental utilities I've used directly attributable to my working here, probably aren’t even 10%.

Consider this also: what was the alternative, during lockdown, to you working at home? If the answer is at home, not working, then how much is the incremental cost of light & heat through the fact that you were working while at home on lockdown, if you would otherwise have been there anyway...


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## Tickle (25 May 2020)

torblednam said:


> Consider this also: what was the alternative, during lockdown, to you working at home? If the answer is at home, not working, then how much is the incremental cost of light & heat through the fact that you were working while at home on lockdown, if you would otherwise have been there anyway...


100% agree with that statement, however we also have to look beyond the current lockdown. In my own case, for the whole of 2019 I worked from home office 2 days per week, and I will be continuing to do so after the lockdown. So for myself, it's not an insignificant cost to give consideration to, and accumulated over a couple of years, it is quite a lot of extra cost.


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## huskerdu (25 May 2020)

It should also be pointed out that you can only claim this tax credit if your employer has left you with no choice but to work from home. 
If you choose to do so, for convenience, you are not entitled to the credit . ( all employees working from home because of COVID-19 are deemed to be entitled).


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## Tickle (25 May 2020)

huskerdu said:


> It should also be pointed out that you can only claim this tax credit if your employer has left you with no choice but to work from home.
> If you choose to do so, for convenience, you are not entitled to the credit . ( all employees working from home because of COVID-19 are deemed to be entitled).


That's not true at all, this tax credit existed before covid-19. From Revenue:


https://imgur.com/BPa6baJ


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## huskerdu (26 May 2020)

I know  it has always existed. Nowhere in my post did I say it was new .
It is only applicable if you have to work from home , not if you choose to .
Revenue have stated that everyone working from home because of Covid 19 is deemed to be entitled as this is not by choice . I think I was clear


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## torblednam (26 May 2020)

OK there’s a couple of things that need clearing up:

Firstly *there is no tax credit in relation to this*.

There’s a Revenue concession allowing employers to make a payment of UP TO €3.20  per day worked at home to people who qualify as e-workers, tax free. Presumably, there’s a government policy of encouraging the promotion of e-working lurking somewhere, which this concession was introduced to support.

In some cases an e-worker’s employer may choose not to make a tax-free payment as set out above, or they might only pay a small fraction of the maximum allowable of €3.20.

Regardless of the foregoing, every person in employment has a statutory right (under section 114 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) to claim a deduction from their taxable income in respect of amounts incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties of their employment. That’s got nothing to do with e-working though, it’s a much broader and older provision. If you have to use your car for your employment but your employer doesn’t pay mileage, or if you have to travel away overnight and they don’t reimburse you the cost, it is this provision that allows you tax relief on those expenses.

There is a body of case law dating back over 100 years in relation to the statutory tests of “wholly, exclusively and necessarily” and these words are described as “notoriously rigid, narrow and restricted in their operation” in one often quoted UK judgement.

Therefore, where a taxpayer makes a claim under this heading, it is these statutory tests that must be met. As I stated previously, the 10% figure was given as a guideline to what Revenue will consider reasonable without challenge (although in any case, there’s a requirement to retain records so that it can be evidenced what your claim is 10% of). If you’re satisfied your additional expense is demonstrably greater then you’re free to claim accordingly.

Finally, in relation to working from home 2 days a week, unless this a formal arrangement and not something you simply have a choice or flexibility around, then it wouldn’t qualify as e-working.


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## Hooverfish (26 May 2020)

I've used differing bills from periods working fulltime from home v fulltime in the office to prove a higher expenses percentage in the past, but it is extremely time-consuming for the sums you get back. I do hope the government is going to look at this, as implied by Varadkar recently.


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

huskerdu said:


> It is only applicable if you have to work from home , not if you choose to .


That's no true at all. If you choose to work from home, then you are working from home and you are entitled to claim. It's quite clear, in the manual, that if you have an arrangement to work from home on either a part or full time basis, then you are a "e-working"


https://imgur.com/BPa6baJ


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

torblednam said:


> Finally, in relation to working from home 2 days a week, unless this a formal arrangement and not something you simply have a choice or flexibility around, then it wouldn’t qualify as e-working.



Yes, in my company it is a formal arrangement, documented and approved by HR and so on. This has been my arrangement for a number of years and I have claimed for 2018, but not for 2019 yet. Difficult enough as you say.

I take umbrage with the fact that a payment of up to 3.20 would be extremely generous but you would have a hard time if you were to claim anything close to that from Revenue. Why such a discrepancy?


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## Ciru75 (26 May 2020)

Tickle said:


> Furthermore, in my view, only allowing 10% of the utility bills to be attributable for the working days is laughable. In my situation, most of the heat and light would be used during a working day at home (an extra 8 hours) in order to be comfortable. Its unreasonable to assert that only an office space can be considered and not common areas such as bathroom and kitchen, which should also be lighted and heated appropriately during a working day.


How much heat are you using? I haven't turned the heating on once during the day in the last two months.

You can't claim for kitchen or bathroom costs because cooking or going for a **** aren't related to your job. The same way you can't claim for buying food or clothes.


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

Ciru75 said:


> How much heat are you using? I haven't turned the heating on once during the day in the last two months.


In the depths of winter, it would be on all day when working from home. Lights on as well.


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## Sunny (26 May 2020)

Apparently this is going to change to encourage people to work from home so I think you can expect a significant increase on the tax credit.


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## torblednam (26 May 2020)

Tickle said:


> I take umbrage with the fact that a payment of up to 3.20 would be extremely generous but you would have a hard time if you were to claim anything close to that from Revenue. Why such a discrepancy?



Well on the one hand there is an incentive to promote something the State considers desirable (getting more of the workforce out of the daily commuting grind and reduce strain on public transport / carbon footprint and all these good things). This is only effective as an incentive if it amounts to something that is deemed worthwhile... €3.20 a day equates to €16 per week, so it looks like someone sat down and worked out that number from some kind of calculation somewhere along the way.

On the other hand is the application of a broad tax provision which is blind to whether the person claiming a deduction is an e-worker or any other kind of worker.

I am working at home since March and likely to be stuck doing so full time until at least the end of the summer; it doesn't particularly suit me with small kids cooped up here pretty much 24/7, so I'll be back to the office in a flash as soon as I'm allowed, and whilst my employer doesn't pay any e-worker allowance I don't think €3.20 a day would alter my outlook!

I'll fire in my claim under s.114 after the end of the year, and for 5 months it'll probably net me less than €60, but I can't find it in me to begrudge, or take umbrage with, the existence of a relatively generous but still quite modest alternative that is available to others. Particularly since any modest increase in utilities is more than offset by the savings from not commuting or eating out etc. I expect that’s true for an awful lot of people.


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

> I don't think €3.20 a day would alter my outlook!


It's €640 for a worker working full time (e.g. 200 days) from home, free of tax, prsi and usc. That is equivalent to an extra €1,333 salary if you are on the highest tax and usc rates. Not to be sniffed at.


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## torblednam (26 May 2020)

Tickle said:


> It's €640 for a worker working full time (e.g. 200 days) from home, free of tax, prsi and usc. That is equivalent to an extra €1,333 salary if you are on the highest tax and usc rates. Not to be sniffed at.



I actually knew that you would throw a similar  figure out, but it’s flawed logic. For starters, a lot of people might be able to do a lot of their work remotely, 1 - 3 days per week, but not everything. So, for the majority of people, it’s some fraction of that.

Anyway, what are you comparing it to? What point are you trying to make about it? That employers shouldn’t be allowed to pay that much, or that employees shouldn’t be allowed to be paid that much, tax free? Smacks of begrudgery really tbh unless / until you can expand on your ideological opposition to it?

It’s also a totally separate issue to the tax relief, which is based on the actual costs incurred by each individual based on the facts & nature of their own employment. You are hardly opposed to the tax relief applying a deduction for the expenses incurred?

A tax credit as suggested by Sunny might be simpler, in theory, but the devil is in the detail.


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## torblednam (26 May 2020)

Sunny said:


> Apparently this is going to change to encourage people to work from home so I think you can expect a significant increase on the tax credit.



What tax credit, there is no tax credit!


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

torblednam said:


> I actually knew that you would throw a similar figure out, but it’s flawed logic. For starters, a lot of people might be able to do a lot of their work remotely, 1 - 3 days per week, but not everything. So, for the majority of people, it’s some fraction of that.



It's not flawed at all, I was quoting the figure at the higher end. That was clear in my example (200 days). At the lower end (e.g. 1 day per week, or 40 days per year to keep in line with my previous example), the amount is 128 euro net per year. Some people will get more, some people get less, depending on number of days they work from home. Nothing flawed about that.


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## RedOnion (26 May 2020)

I used to work for an employer that gave us all a 500 euro voucher every Christmas. Completely tax free.
It was worth well over 1,000 gross to those on higher tax band. 
I've changed jobs now, but there is no vouchers. And no way to claim a tax credit for it. Completely unfair!

This is equivalent to the comparisons being made above.


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## Tickle (26 May 2020)

RedOnion said:


> I used to work for an employer that gave us all a 500 euro voucher every Christmas. Completely tax free.
> It was worth well over 1,000 gross to those on higher tax band.
> I've changed jobs now, but there is no vouchers. And no way to claim a tax credit for it. Completely unfair!
> 
> This is equivalent to the comparisons being made above.




I disagree.

For example, focusing on the last 1000 euro of income of a worker, which is taxed and usc'd at higher rates. The worker receives €480 net from this.
The worker incurs €100 expenses due to working from home. The following are the comparisons being made:

Scenario A. The employer pays the employee €100, and it's not subject to tax or usc. They use this money towards the expenses, so they still have all of that €480 left.

Scenario B. The employee is not reimbursed by their employer. Out of their last €480, they have had to pay their expenses and now they only have €380. The worker must claim it back from Revenue.

Scenario C: Doing without option A or B. The employee is down to €380 after their expenses and is €100 worse off that A or B. If their salary was €208 higher, they too would have €480 left after taxes and usc.


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## Sunny (26 May 2020)

torblednam said:


> What tax credit, there is no tax credit!



This post will be deleted if not edited immediately relax. They are talking about introducing/changing tax credits/relief to encourage working from home to stop everyone rushing back to the office. Don't get your pants all in a twist if it is called a tax credit or tax relief.


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## Sunny (26 May 2020)

RedOnion said:


> I used to work for an employer that gave us all a 500 euro voucher every Christmas. Completely tax free.
> It was worth well over 1,000 gross to those on higher tax band.
> I've changed jobs now, but there is no vouchers. And no way to claim a tax credit for it. Completely unfair!
> 
> This is equivalent to the comparisons being made above.



I still get that. Don't tell the wife though.


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## torblednam (26 May 2020)

Sunny said:


> This post will be deleted if not edited immediately relax. They are talking about introducing/changing tax credits/relief to encourage working from home to stop everyone rushing back to the office. Don't get your pants all in a twist if it is called a tax credit or tax relief.



Those sort of distinctions are what some of us unfortunately can get bogged down in, in our day jobs...


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## Ndiddy (29 May 2020)

Can you claim for broadband too or just elec/gas?


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## torblednam (29 May 2020)

Ndiddy said:


> Can you claim for broadband too or just elec/gas?




My response to that (and I’ll be claiming relief for 5 months + of full time home working) is that this is just common sense.

I intend to estimate how much my broadband cost increases by.

I’ve got “unlimited” high speed fibre BB, so the additional cost of my BB on account of my home working is a big fat zero, it’d be plain disingenuous to assert otherwise.

If I was going to downgrade or get rid of my BB except for the home working requirement, or if I had to upgrade my service for it, then that’d be different.

Having said all that, if a person was to claim X/365 x some modest % of their BB I don’t think anyone is going to argue the toss with them over €20 - €40 of tax...


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## PaxmanK (31 May 2020)

This is confusing.
Can a PAYE worker who has been forced to work from home for 3 months get money back from revenue, if their employer does not pay them any extra for working from home?

If so how do they go about getting this money?

I think that is the situation 90% of the workforce are going to be in.


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## messyleo (31 May 2020)

I had to take out new broadband at €50 p.m. in mid March because of working from home - I previously used a cheap mobile broadband package at a a tenner a month - so I was hoping to claim tax relief on more than 10% of the cost of the broadband (ideally the extra cost of €40 p.m.) given it was wholly incurred for WFH - if I can document the start of the new contract in mid-March to coincide with when I started working from home, do you think this would be acceptable?


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## torblednam (1 Jun 2020)

PaxmanK said:


> This is confusing.
> Can a PAYE worker who has been forced to work from home for 3 months get money back from revenue, if their employer does not pay them any extra for working from home?
> 
> If so how do they go about getting this money?
> ...



It really isn’t confusing. Stop and forget whatever you have seen that has confused you. It may be a bit involved, but there's nothing confusing about it.

Your employer can choose to pay you a tax free amount of UP TO €3.20 per day, and it's well established that this would be by far the most attractive thing financially for an employee.

If your employer doesn't pay you any allowance for working from home, then you just have to forget the existence of the €3.20 a day thing - it's only relevant if you're getting it!

In that situation you have to make a claim for a tax relief after the end of the year - you'll be able to do it via MyAccount - you probably can't do it for 2019, but as you said there will be hundreds of thousands of people looking to make this claim next year, so you can be pretty sure that Revenue , who have no interest in making a cross for their own backs, will have a systems development for the online service, to allow people to claim, in the same way as they do for medical expenses etc...

What you can claim for is not complicated at all, it's common sense really. The additional cost of utilities etc, due to your direct usage of them in the course of performing your work at home.

It won't be a life altering sum of money, as for a month period it will be 92/365 (or about 25%) of 10% (or whatever the appropriate % of your property is a fair % to attribute to your workspace) of your light & heat bills. 

Lets say you're an optimist and reckon your workspace accounts for 20% of your gaff. This means you'd be claiming 5% (i.e. 92/365 of 20%) of your light & heat bills for the year. That is deducted from your taxable income for the year, meaning you get tax relief at your highest rate of tax. Depending on what tax band you are in, that would equate to cash in your hand of either 20% or 40%, of 5% of your utilities for the year. If your utilities are €2,500, that's €25 - €50. And that's based on claiming your home office takes up 20% of your home, which is twice the 10% that Revenue have indicated they reckon is a reasonable estimate.


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## torblednam (1 Jun 2020)

gravitygirl said:


> I had to take out new broadband at €50 p.m. in mid March because of working from home - I previously used a cheap mobile broadband package at a a tenner a month - so I was hoping to claim tax relief on more than 10% of the cost of the broadband (ideally the extra cost of €40 p.m.) given it was wholly incurred for WFH - if I can document the start of the new contract in mid-March to coincide with when I started working from home, do you think this would be acceptable?



If it were me I would definitely be claiming for most, if not all, of that additional €40.


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## Lisboa (26 Jul 2020)

Revenue's e-working PDF has the formula for calculating relief for allowable expenses for PAYE employees as 10% of; 





> (€1,750 x No. of e-working days) / 365 days



I work part-time hours at home, 5 days a week, as a PAYE employee. When I do my tax returns next year, I'm not sure if I can apply for this tax relief using the above formula as is, just counting every day as normal, or if I should only use multiples of 0.5 working days. I didn't see that covered in the PDF. 

In the end it works out to very little anyway (I think it's 48 cents per full day?!), but I envisage this continuing until the end of the year so sure every tiny bit helps.

Semi-related to that, I also do some independent contractor work from home. Is there a scheme similar to the e-working tax relief scheme for self-employed who are working from home? Or can I just claim using the same rules and formula as above? I'm paid per hour, so for every 7 hours, I would just add 1 day to my calculation.

Revenue say; 





> If you spend money on something that is for both business and private use, you can claim a deduction for part of the expense. This would include items such as phone bills, motor expenses and rent. You must work out how much of the expenditure was for business purposes and claim a deduction for that amount only.


 In my case it would just be the same expenses as the e-working relief is paid for.


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## Ndiddy (4 Sep 2020)

what bills could we use as proof?  is it gas and electric?  how about broadband?

does one have to keep bills or would debit on bank statement be enough?  I want to change providers but hesitant to move in case I need bills


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## Tickle (8 Sep 2020)

I've seen 2x increase in electricity *consumption* compared to same period last year. The only change is that I am now working from home (no kids watching Netflix all day). I will definitely be claiming back all of that increase. It will have cost an extra few hundred euro in electricity by the end of the year.


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## Opal** (8 Sep 2020)

Do employers not reimburse expenses such as these? Like most people, I'm new to the world of WFH so I'm a little confused as to why submitting a claim to an employer for out of pocket expenses wouldn't be the obvious way to recoup costs. I think I must be missing something very obvious to everyone else...


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## odyssey06 (8 Sep 2020)

Opal** said:


> Do employers not reimburse expenses such as these? Like most people, I'm new to the world of WFH so I'm a little confused as to why submitting a claim to an employer for out of pocket expenses wouldn't be the obvious way to recoup costs. I think I must be missing something very obvious to everyone else...



Earlier post explains sone of this:





						working from home tax credit?
					

how do you apply for this and has anyone succeeded getting back form revenue?  what proof is needed?



					www.askaboutmoney.com


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## DB74 (8 Sep 2020)

I would just like to throw a small spanner in the works here, forthose who plan to claim this creidt AND who have been receiving the TWSS

Anyone who has been receiving the TWSS from their employer will most likely have a (potentially significant) personal tax liability for the 2020 tax year. This is due to the fact that the TWSS was paid to employees without deduction of any payroll taxes

*In my opinion*, Revenue will not seek to chase this money unless the taxpayer in question actively submits a tax return for the 2020 tax year voluntarily. I think the political fallout from such a move will not be worth the hassle

In the vast majority of situations, the tax liability on the TWSS will far exceed any tax relief available via the working-from-home tax credit so it may be more worthwhile in NOT claiming this credit. The same logic may even apply to claiming tax relief on medical expenses etc

This obviously doesn't affect people who already have to submit a tax return (eg company directors, people with rental income etc) but for the ordinary PAYE taxpayer with no other income it is worth considering

Now obviously Revenue may insist that they want a tax return from everyone who has received the TWSS but I personally think it's unlikely


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## torblednam (8 Sep 2020)

Opal** said:


> Do employers not reimburse expenses such as these? Like most people, I'm new to the world of WFH so I'm a little confused as to why submitting a claim to an employer for out of pocket expenses wouldn't be the obvious way to recoup costs. I think I must be missing something very obvious to everyone else...



Have you read the thread? Employers can pay up to 3.20 per day, on an unvouched, no questions asked basis. 

They can also pay whatever's reasonable, on a vouched, questions very much asked, basis.

What it appears you may be missing, is that there's large swathes of employers with zero interest in doing either of the above-mentioned.

In that instance, the only source of financial recompense available currently is a claim for a deduction against one's income, with a consequent reduction in one's income tax and, all other things being equal, a tax refund.


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## Opal** (9 Sep 2020)

torblednam said:


> Have you read the thread? Employers can pay up to 3.20 per day, on an unvouched, no questions asked basis.
> 
> They can also pay whatever's reasonable, on a vouched, questions very much asked, basis.
> 
> ...


Thanks for clearing that up as it actually wasn't completely clear from the thread (which I did read btw ). I naively assumed I wouldn't be at a loss through working from home but it looks like it may not be straightforward when I go to submit an expenses claim.


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## jim (9 Sep 2020)

Thanks for the info in this thread. Can i just clarify...if ones employer doesnt do the €3.20 thimg then you can claim against your own income tax bill. How do you calculate how much you can claim? Is it that you estimate size of office versus rest of house? Then apportion which bills?(electricity, heat, bbroadband)? And further apportion by number of days in the yr worked from home?

How does revenue challenge this? How do they assess reasonableness of office size?

Example:
Office is 20% of house.
Annual electricty and bb is say €1600
Wfh 170 days in yr
Claim = 170/365X1600X0.2=€149 

Is this correct in theory?


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## Opal** (9 Sep 2020)

DB74 said:


> I would just like to throw a small spanner in the works here, forthose who plan to claim this creidt AND who have been receiving the TWSS
> 
> Anyone who has been receiving the TWSS from their employer will most likely have a (potentially significant) personal tax liability for the 2020 tax year. This is due to the fact that the TWSS was paid to employees without deduction of any payroll taxes
> 
> ...


I was thinking along the same lines but Revenue have said they will adjust credits from 2022 to recoup any tax owed and may spread this adjustment over 4 years so it looks like they do intend to collect any outstanding taxes.


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## Black_Knight (16 Sep 2020)

jim said:


> Thanks for the info in this thread. Can i just clarify...if ones employer doesnt do the €3.20 thimg then you can claim against your own income tax bill. How do you calculate how much you can claim? Is it that you estimate size of office versus rest of house? Then apportion which bills?(electricity, heat, bbroadband)? And further apportion by number of days in the yr worked from home?
> 
> How does revenue challenge this? How do they assess reasonableness of office size?
> 
> ...



From citizens information:

*Example*
Mary works from home for 6 months while her office is closed due to the COVID-19 emergency. During that 6 months her household bills for heating, electricity and broadband come to €1000. At the end of the year she can claim tax back on expenses of €100 (10% of €1000).
The amount she gets back depends on her rate of tax. If she pays tax at the higher tax rate of 40% she will get €40 back from her taxes (40% of €100). If she pays tax at the lower rate of 20%, she will receive €20 back (20% of €100).


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## jim (17 Sep 2020)

Thats fairly crap


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## Tickle (17 Sep 2020)

I'll be claiming back the full cost of the electricity usage increase compared to same time last year. My bill has doubled so I'll be claiming 50% of the bill.


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## torblednam (17 Sep 2020)

Tickle said:


> I'll be claiming back the full cost of the electricity usage increase compared to same time last year. My bill has doubled so I'll be claiming 50% of the bill.



Your situation seems remarkable.

You said earlier in the thread that you have been working 2 days per week at home for a year or more pre-Covid.

Now you're saying your electricity usage has doubled this year, by virtue of you working an extra 3 days a week from home (assuming you work a 5 day week).

Unless my arithmetic is letting me down (and assuming you're holding constant your personal domestic electricity cost between both years), this means that you use as much electricity in EACH day of working from home, as you do in the whole week for personal domestic use. What's your job, a bitcoin miner?!


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## relax carry on (17 Sep 2020)

Tickle said:


> I'll be claiming back the full cost of the electricity usage increase compared to same time last year. My bill has doubled so I'll be claiming 50% of the bill.



Claiming does not mean successfully obtaining a refund on the amount you submit. Be prepared to be disappointed.


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## Tickle (17 Sep 2020)

torblednam said:


> Your situation seems remarkable.
> 
> You said earlier in the thread that you have been working 2 days per week at home for a year or more pre-Covid.
> 
> ...


Yeah it all adds up. 5 days working from home is 2.5 times as much as 2 days so it's very easy to see how the consumption can be 2 times as much as before. I'd have equipment and lights on for work Monday-Friday and they would consume way more electricity than the base load for my house. On the weekend only a fraction of the electricity would be used (as equipment and lights would be turned off). I don't know why that is so hard to believe, but I've got the bills here in front of me which are telling me that the actual consumption has doubled.

You are assuming that all 7 days would have the same amount of electricity consumed each day, but honestly I'd say 80 or 90% could be used Monday-Friday when I have equipment on for around 45 hours and during the weekend the equipment would be off and I'd use next to nothing by comparison.



relax carry on said:


> Claiming does not mean successfully obtaining a refund on the amount you submit. Be prepared to be disappointed.


I'll let you know how I get on. I'm prepared to submit my claim and my records to justify said claim.


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## torblednam (18 Sep 2020)

Tickle said:


> Yeah it all adds up. 5 days working from home is 2.5 times as much as 2 days so it's very easy to see how the consumption can be 2 times as much as before. I'd have equipment and lights on for work Monday-Friday and they would consume way more electricity than the base load for my house. On the weekend only a fraction of the electricity would be used (as equipment and lights would be turned off). I don't know why that is so hard to believe, but I've got the bills here in front of me which are telling me that the actual consumption has doubled.
> 
> You are assuming that all 7 days would have the same amount of electricity consumed each day, but honestly I'd say 80 or 90% could be used Monday-Friday when I have equipment on for around 45 hours and during the weekend the equipment would be off and I'd use next to nothing by comparison.



What kind of equipment?! Do you have 1kw light bulbs in your work area or something?

A computer, a monitor and some light bulbs will probably run to about 1 - 1.5 units per working day, combined. Look at the wattage on them if you don't believe me.

The majority of the electricity consumed in your house will be by appliances unrelated to working from home, electric shower, immersion, oven, hob, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer, hairdryer. All of these use exponentially more power than a couple of light bulbs and a computer. And you will almost certainly have used a number of them much more frequently due to working from home. But that consumption is not in the course of your work, and it's not tax deductible. An average fridge freezer alone probably uses about as much electricity as your working from home would. 

Is your heating also running on electricity, by the way?

And finally, has your tariff increased since last year? I got caught with a huge increase earlier this year because my discounted rate had ended and I had to switch in order to stop my bill from going up by ~25%.


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## aristotle (18 Sep 2020)

torblednam said:


> Is your heating also running on electricity, by the way?



We run the gas off the electricity and the electricity off the gas and we save two hundred pounds a year.


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## torblednam (18 Sep 2020)

aristotle said:


> We run the gas off the electricity and the electricity off the gas and we save two hundred pounds a year.



Huh?! 

I presume you're just having a bit of Friday night banter, but I meant like storage heaters, or a heat pump that runs on electricity... (although if Tickle has a heat pump they're surely in a well insulated house that won't have had the heating on much / at all during the day since March anyway...)


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