Can I claim work-from-home tax relief if I work hybrid?

Generally no, if hybrid is your choice. The current rules (since April 2022) require that you must work from home because your job genuinely requires it — not because your employer permits hybrid for convenience. The exception is if there are days when you cannot use the office facilities (e.g. small employer with no London office) — those qualify.

How much is the £6/wk WFH tax relief actually worth?

£62/yr at basic rate, £125/yr at higher rate, £140/yr at additional rate. You don't get £6/wk in your bank — you get £312/yr added to your tax-free Personal Allowance, which reduces your tax by the rates above.

How do I claim WFH tax relief without doing Self Assessment?

Use form P87 — available online at gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees. You can claim for the current tax year (HMRC adjusts your tax code) and backdate up to four tax years (HMRC pays a refund into your bank account). The form takes 5-10 minutes.

How to claim work-from-home tax relief 2026/27

Last reviewed by the UK Tax Drag editorial team · 12 May 2026 · How we review · Next review due 12 May 2027 · See what changed · Report an error

6-minute read

For 2026/27, employees can claim £6/wk flat-rate (£312/yr) tax relief if their employer requires them to work from home. The relief is worth ~£62/yr at basic rate, ~£125/yr at higher rate. If you only sometimes work from home by choice, you don't qualify under the post-2022 rules. Self-employed people use simplified expenses (£10-£26/month based on hours) or proportional actual costs. You can backdate four years via form P87 (employees) or your tax return (self-employed).

Employee rules — 2026/27

You qualify if ALL of the following apply:

Your job duties require you to work from home (not just allowed to)
Your employer doesn't have appropriate facilities for you to do the job
You're required to work from home as part of your contract OR because the job is genuinely home-based
You're not just choosing to work from home for convenience

The COVID-era waiver expired.From April 2020 to April 2022, HMRC let almost any employee claim work-from-home relief because of COVID. That blanket waiver is gone. The pre-COVID test is back: required, not chosen.

Hybrid working usually doesn't qualify.If your employer has an office you could use, and you choose hybrid for convenience, you don't qualify even if your employer's policy says "work from home 2 days a week is fine". The test is whether the job genuinely requires home working.

How much relief and what it's worth

Your tax rate	Annual relief £6/wk × 52	Tax saving
20% basic rate	£312	£62.40
40% higher rate	£312	£124.80
45% additional rate	£312	£140.40

You don't get £312 in your bank account — you get £312 added to your tax-free Personal Allowance, which reduces your tax bill by the rates above.

£6/wk flat vs actual costs

You can claim either:

£6/wk (£312/yr) flat rate — easy, no evidence needed
Actual additional costs of working from home — gas/electric/broadband proportion. Requires receipts and a reasonable apportionment method. Most employees stick with the £6/wk because itemising rarely beats it.

Actual-cost calculation

Sarah works from home 3 days/wk in a dedicated room (10% of her home's floor area). Her gas + electric bill is £180/month.

Time apportionment: 3/7 days × 10/24 work hours = 1.79% of home use
Floor apportionment: 10% of bill = £18/month
Time-floor apportionment: 10% × 3/7 = 4.3% per month = £7.74/month = £93/yr
£6/wk × 52 = £312 is much better.Take the flat rate.

Broadband is excluded.You'd have broadband regardless of work — no proportion is allowable. Only direct work-from-home additional costs count (incremental gas/electric, business calls).

Step-by-step: claiming via P87

If you don't file Self Assessment, claim using form P87.

Step 1: Decide online or paperOnline (faster): gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees has an interactive service that submits a P87 electronically. Paper: download form P87 and post to HMRC.

Step 2: Sign inThe online P87 needs Government Gateway sign-in. If you don't have one, you can still use the form via paper.

Step 3: Answer questionsHMRC asks: employer name, employer PAYE reference, your job role, why you need to work from home (job-required), the tax years you're claiming for, the £6/wk amount (or actual costs).

Step 4: HMRC processesHMRC adjusts your tax code to add £312 to your tax-free allowance for each tax year claimed. For prior years, HMRC issues a refund via your bank or by cheque. For the current year, you'll feel the benefit through reduced tax in payslips going forward.

Step-by-step: claiming via Self Assessment

If you already file SA, put the £312 (or actual amount) in SA102 box 20 ("Other expenses and capital allowances"). HMRC's automatic calculation gives you the relief.

Self-employed rules

Self-employed people don't use P87. They claim "use of home as office" on the SA103 self-employment supplementary page.

Hours/month worked from home	Simplified rate
25-50 hours	£10/month (£120/yr)
51-100 hours	£18/month (£216/yr)
101+ hours	£26/month (£312/yr)

Or use actual costs (gas, electric, water, council tax, mortgage interest, repairs — proportional to business use). Most freelancers and sole traders find simplified is easier and HMRC enquiry risk is lower.

Backdate four years

You can claim work-from-home relief for the four previous tax years:

2022/23 (may qualify if home-based pre-April 2022)
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26

Be careful with 2021/22 and earlier.The COVID-era waiver applied — you may have already claimed via the special HMRC tool launched in 2020. Don't double-claim.

Worked example: 4-year backdated claim

Tom is a software engineer required to work fully remote since April 2022 (his employer closed its London office). He's never claimed WFH relief. As a higher-rate taxpayer:

4 years × £312 = £1,248 total relief on his tax-free PA
Tax saved: £1,248 × 40% = £499 refund
Plus ongoing £125/yr from tax code adjustment

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Claiming when you're hybrid by choice.If your employer offers hybrid working but doesn't require you to work from home, you don't qualify. HMRC may not flag this immediately but can ask later — keep an email from your employer confirming the home-working requirement if applicable.

Mistake 2: Claiming and then changing jobs.If your new role doesn't require home working, the relief should stop. Tell HMRC.

Mistake 3: Using a refund agency."Tax refund agencies" advertise WFH relief claims for a 20-30% fee. The claim is free via P87 — don't pay anyone.

Mistake 4: Confusing employee and self-employed routes.Employees use P87; self-employed use SA103. Some freelancers who also have employment incorrectly use SA for everything; this can under-claim.

Mistake 5: Forgetting reimbursed expenses.If your employer reimburses you for home-working costs (e.g. tax-free £6/wk via payroll), you can't claim again through P87. Check your payslip first.

Check work-from-home eligibility

Not sure if you qualify? The "what is X" reference articles explain the BIK, P11D and salary sacrifice mechanics that interact with WFH claims.

Read about BIK and WFH →

Sources and references

WFH relief rules from gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home. P87 form from gov.uk P87. Simplified expenses for self-employed at gov.uk simplified expenses.

UK Tax Drag is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide regulated financial or tax advice — see the content disclaimer for the full position. The methodology page documents how every guide is built and reviewed.

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How to claim work-from-home tax relief in 2026/27