Working From Home Tax Relief Calculator (HMRC £6 rule)
HMRC's flat rate is £6 a week for the extra household costs of working from home — no receipts needed. During 2020-21 and 2021-22 almost anyone working from home qualified; since 2022-23 you must be *required* to work from home, not simply choose to.
Select the years and the weeks worked from home. Earlier years remain claimable within the four-year window.
The rule as it stands since April 2022
The generous COVID-era interpretation ended on 5 April 2022. Today you can only claim the £6 weekly flat rate if you have to work from home: your employer provides no office you can reasonably use, or your role requires you to live far away from it. Hybrid working where you choose your home days does not qualify — HMRC rejected large volumes of claims on exactly this ground after 2022.
The COVID years you can still claim now
In 2020-21 and 2021-22, working from home for even one day under COVID restrictions allowed a whole year's claim. Those years stay open inside the four-year backdating window — 2021-22 finally slams shut on 5 April 2026, and 2020-21 has already closed. A full-year basic-rate claim for 2021-22 is £62.40; higher-rate is £124.80. If you qualified and never claimed, the remaining window is short but real.
What £6 a week adds up to
The flat rate exists to spare everyone meter readings and receipts — 52 weeks at £6 is £312 of expenses, worth £62.40 a year at 20% tax and £124.80 at 40%. If your real extra costs (heating, electricity, business calls) are clearly higher, you can claim the actual amounts instead with evidence; most people find the flat rate is the sane trade between effort and return.
What this estimate can't tell you
- Post-2021-22 claims need employer-mandated home working.
- The flat rate covers utilities and similar; business phone calls can be extra with evidence.
- Relief is the tax on £6 a week — about £62 a year for a full-year basic-rate claim.
The free HMRC route
Everything this calculator estimates can be claimed directly from HMRC at no cost — usually online in a few minutes or via a short form. Refund companies charge a percentage of money that is already yours. We never handle claims and are not affiliated with HMRC.