| Employees | no deduction of their own from 2026/27 (Finance Act 2026 s21) |
| Earlier years | claims for the 4 previous tax years still possible |
| Employer | may pay £6 a week (£26 a month) tax-free |
| Equipment | reimbursement by the employer tax-free since 6 April 2026 |
| Self-employed | flat rate of £10, £18 or £26 a month from 25 hours |
| Updated | November 2026 |
First, a word about names
In Britain, the Home Office is not your study but a ministry: the department responsible for immigration, policing and the country's security. Working at home is called working from home, or WFH. If you are looking for visas and residence, our visas section is the right place. This page is about tax on the spare room.
Employees: the deduction has gone since April 2026
Up to the 2025/26 tax year, employees who had to work from home could claim the extra costs of heating, electricity and work calls: either actual costs with receipts or a flat £6 a week without them. The condition was that you had to work from home, for example because your employer had no office. If you stayed home by choice or your contract merely allowed it, you never qualified.
In Budget 2025 the government abolished the deduction. Its reasoning: in compliance checks more than half the claims were not valid. The law is now the Finance Act 2026, section 21: there is no deduction for additional household costs of working from home from the 2026/27 tax year, unless the employer reimburses them.
You can still claim for the four tax years before, if you met the conditions at the time. Since 2022/23 you need evidence that you had to work from home, even for the flat rate. If you file a Self Assessment return, you claim through the return.
What works now: the employer pays
The route through your employer is untouched. If you work at home regularly under an agreement, your employer may pay you £6 a week, or £26 a month if paid monthly, free of tax and National Insurance, or the proven extra costs. Equipment such as a laptop or office chair that the employer provides or reimburses stays tax-free if you use it for work and private use is insignificant. Since 6 April 2026 reimbursement of home working equipment is also expressly exempt from tax and National Insurance. Your employer may even pay for a broadband connection tax-free if you had none before, need it for work and use it mainly for work.
For employers abroad with staff working from a UK home, this is a UK payroll question. How that works is on UK Payroll.
The self-employed: flat rate by hours
Nothing has changed for sole traders. Instead of working out a share of the costs, you can use simplified expenses if you work at home at least 25 hours a month: £10 a month for 25 to 50 hours, £18 for 51 to 100 hours and £26 from 101 hours. Phone and internet are not included; you claim the business share at actual cost. Everything goes into your Self Assessment return; more in HMRC and Self Assessment.
What is still to come
Other employee expenses are to get simpler: from April 2028 the £2,500 threshold above which employees must use Self Assessment to claim expenses goes, and more claims are to run through PAYE. And if you drive your own car for work, from 6 April 2027 you can be reimbursed 35 rather than 25 pence a mile tax-free above 10,000 miles. Both were announced in Budget 2026; they will be implemented by regulations. Every change with its status is in what changes in 2026.
Frequently asked questions about working from home
Can I still claim £6 a week for 2026/27?
Not yourself from HMRC. Since 6 April 2026 employees can no longer claim the deduction. Your employer may still pay you the amount tax-free.
Can I still claim for earlier years?
Yes, for the four tax years before 2026/27, if you had to work from home at the time. Since 2022/23 you need evidence for that.
What is the Home Office in England?
The Home Office is the UK government department for immigration and security. For working at home the British say working from home.
Does the abolition apply to the self-employed?
No. Sole traders can still use the flat rates of £10, £18 or £26 a month or claim a share of the actual costs.
Sources: GOV.UK: Claim tax relief for your job expenses, working from home; legislation.gov.uk: Finance Act 2026, section 21; GOV.UK: Removal of tax relief on non-reimbursed homeworking expenses (TIIN); GOV.UK: Expenses and benefits, homeworking; GOV.UK: The expansion of workplace benefits relief; GOV.UK: Simplified expenses, working from home; GOV.UK: Budget 2026, Overview of tax legislation and rates (OOTLAR)
