Employees working from home urged to claim tax relief
Employees working from home are being urged to claim tax relief that could be worth €16 per week to them.The Office of the Revenue Commissioners allows employees working from home to claim €3.20 per day in expenses, if duties are being performed within normal working hours.
It applies to firms where employee works at home full or part-time, or where they work part of the time at home and the remainder in the normal place of work.
According to Revenue, e-working involves "logging onto a work computer remotely sending and receiving email, data or files remotely developing ideas, products and services remotely".
Citizens Information says the €3.20 per day can be offered by employers to workers without deducting PAYE, PRSI, or USC. The employer must keep a record of payments made.
Tax refund specialists at Taxback.com said that thousands of employees will never have worked from home before, and so will be completely unaware of the relief that is available to them.
Taxback.com chief executive Joanna Murphy said: "It is a difficult time for everyone and households throughout the country are already feeling the financial impact of this.
"If there are any supports available to people, it’s important that they are made aware."
There were already estimated 100,000-plus working from home before the pandemic crisis, and Revenue has made provisions for these people to be reimbursed for work-related expenses, Ms Murphy said.
"Now these provisions can apply to the new wave of e-worker also. This is a benefit that, in our experience, is already heavily under-utilised. But now more than ever people are going to need all the financial support they can get.
"Simply calculate your total costs and the amount of your time, as a percentage, you spent working from home. You can then claim the tax break on this percentage of the cost."
Taxback.com said that even if an employer is not in a position to pay the €3.20, these expenses are eligible for tax relief meaning the ‘home-worker’ can claim tax back on them.
Ms Murphy said: "Any claims made will need to be supported with evidence in the form of receipts and possibly a letter from your employer stating that you do, in fact, work from home and that they do not reimburse you for these expenses.
"The allowance or rebate claimed must be reasonable, allowing for the fact that the utilities are for both personal and work and benefit everyone else in the home, so the refund received will be based on only a portion of the overall expenses.
"And even if your employer does reimburse the employee - if the cost run up exceeds the €3.20-mark, tax can still be reclaimed on the difference.”
