HMRC is being “inundated” with claims for tax relief on items such as office furniture and printer ink, from employees who have been forced to work from home due to the Covid19 pandemic.
Millions of salaried employees in the UK, now working remotely because of Coronavirus are entitled to claim back tax relief, potentially worth hundreds of pounds, on items that are deemed “wholly, exclusively and necessarily” required to do their jobs, including office chairs, furniture, printer consumables and stationery.
Prior to Covid19 these claims, which are made using P87 forms sent to HMRC for up to four years on from the end of the financial year in which the items were purchased, were rarely made, as they were only available to workers who were made to work from home and not just working from home because they had chosen to do so.
Now that the Covid19 pandemic has forced millions of employees to work from home, HMRC is facing a deluge of claims for tax relief on these items. Because a large number of people have been forced to work from home during the lockdown, HMRC is being inundated with claims for home working expenses.
Online retailers are seeing massive increases in the sales of items related to remote working, with John Lewis reporting an increase of 123% in the sales of home office equipment, while the online furniture store Wayfair reported a 200% increase in searches for home office items, including bookcases, desks and office chairs.
Workers could potentially claim back hundreds of pounds, as the amount of tax relief they can claim for office equipment is the same as the rate of income tax they pay. So, a basic-rate taxpayer paying 20% tax on their (taxable) earnings will receive £200 for every £1000 of allowable expenses they claim back – 20% of what they had spent on the equipment.
HMRC has said that it didn’t know the precise figures for the number of P87 claims that it had received, only that there has been a significant increase.
They also said that they are at the forefront of the government’s response to the pandemic and is working hard to deliver the schemes announced by the Chancellor to give security and reassurance to millions of workers and businesses around the country.
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