If you’ve searched for work-from-home tax relief expecting the familiar £6-a-week flat rate that millions of people claimed during and after the pandemic, there’s an important update you need to know first: HMRC abolished this relief for employees from 6 April 2026. This isn’t a minor tweak — it’s a genuine change in what’s available, and a lot of older articles and guidance still floating around the internet haven’t caught up with it. The good news is that this guide reflects the current 2026/27 rules exactly, covers what’s still available (including a four-year backdating window that’s still open for previous tax years), and explains the meaningfully different — and often more generous — rules that apply if you’re self-employed.
Whether you’re an employee who worked from home in previous years and never claimed, a sole trader currently working from a home office, or simply trying to understand what changed and why, this guide walks through exactly where things stand.
Quick Answer: Work-From-Home Tax Relief in 2026
As of 6 April 2026, employees can no longer claim work-from-home tax relief directly from HMRC, regardless of whether working from home is voluntary or contractually required. HMRC scrapped the flat-rate £6/week (£312/year) allowance after finding that more than half of claims reviewed were ineligible. However, you can still backdate claims for the four previous tax years — currently 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26 — if you were required to work from home and didn’t claim at the time, using HMRC’s online service or a P87 form. Self-employed people are entirely unaffected by this change and can continue claiming home-working costs either through HMRC’s simplified flat-rate expenses (£10-£26 a month depending on hours worked from home) or by calculating an actual proportion of household bills, claimed through their Self Assessment return.
What Actually Changed in April 2026
Until 5 April 2026, employees who were required to work from home — because their employer had no suitable office, or their contract specified home working — could claim a flat-rate allowance of £6 per week (£312 a year) without needing to provide any receipts or evidence of actual costs. This translated into a genuine tax saving of roughly £62.40 a year for basic-rate taxpayers and up to £140.40 a year for additional-rate taxpayers — modest, but free money for the several million people who qualified and claimed it.
From 6 April 2026, this relief has been abolished entirely for employees. HMRC’s own stated reasoning is worth understanding, because it explains why this isn’t likely to be reversed any time soon: in reviewing claims, HMRC found that over half were ineligible
— typically people claiming despite working from home by choice rather than necessity, which never met the qualifying test even under the old rules. Rather than continuing to police a high-volume, high-error-rate relief, HMRC chose to remove it altogether for employees.
It’s important to be precise about the scope of this change: it applies specifically to employees claiming directly from HMRC
for unreimbursed home-working costs. It does not affect employers who choose to pay or reimburse employees for home-working costs directly (which remains a tax-free benefit if structured correctly), and it does not affect the self-employed, who have an entirely separate set of rules covered later in this guide.
Who Is Affected — and Who Isn’t
| Situation | Affected by the April 2026 Change? |
| Employee claiming the £6/week flat rate directly from HMRC | Yes — no longer possible from 6 April 2026 onwards |
| Employee whose employer reimburses home-working costs directly | No — employer-paid reimbursement remains available and tax-free if structured correctly |
| Employee backdating a claim for 2022/23-2025/26 | No — backdated claims for years when the relief existed are still valid within the 4-year window |
| Self-employed sole trader or partner working from home | No — entirely separate rules, completely unaffected |
| Limited company director claiming home-working costs | Generally no — directors typically claim via the company as an allowable business expense, not the abolished employee relief |
For the official policy paper setting out the change in full, including HMRC’s reasoning and the exact effective date, the ACCA’s technical summary of the 2026 work-from-home relief changes provides a clear, professionally-reviewed breakdown aimed at accountants and tax professionals, which is useful if you want the detail behind the headline change.
The Backdating Window: What You Can Still Claim
This is genuinely important and easy to miss: even though the relief no longer exists going forward, you can still backdate a claim for up to four previous tax years if you were required to work from home during those years and never claimed at the time. HMRC allows claims to be backdated within a standard four-year window, and this applies to the working-from-home relief exactly as it does to most other tax reliefs.
As of the 2026/27 tax year, the years you can still claim for are:
2022/23 — deadline to claim: 5 April 2027
2023/24 — deadline to claim: 5 April 2028
2024/25 — deadline to claim: 5 April 2029
2025/26 — deadline to claim: 5 April 2030 (this was the final year the relief existed)
Claims for 2020/21 and 2021/22 — the pandemic years where HMRC applied especially generous eligibility rules — are now outside the four-year window and can no longer be claimed. If you missed claiming for those specific years, that opportunity has unfortunately passed. But if you were required to work from home at any point in 2022/23 through 2025/26 and never got round to claiming, that money is still genuinely available — you simply need to submit the claim for each relevant year.
Also Read: How to Claim Working from Home Tax Relief 2022-23 in the UK
To backdate a claim, use HMRC’s online service (the most straightforward route for most people) or submit a separate P87 form for each tax year you’re claiming for, specifying which year the claim relates to. You’ll need to confirm that you were required to work from home during that specific year — for the standard post-pandemic years, this means your employer had no suitable workspace available, or your role was specified as home-based in your contract. Most online claims are processed within a few weeks, and HMRC will either issue a one-off rebate or adjust your tax code going forward, depending on how the claim is structured.
Self-Employed? Your Rules Are Completely Different — and Unaffected
If you’re a sole trader, in a business partnership, or otherwise self-employed, none of the April 2026 changes affect you. Self-employed people have always claimed home-working costs as a business expense through their Self Assessment return, under a completely separate set of rules from the employee relief — and that mechanism continues exactly as before.
Option 1: HMRC’s Simplified Flat Rate
HMRC offers a flat-rate scale based on hours worked from home each month, which avoids the need to calculate actual proportions of household bills:
| Hours Worked From Home Per Month | Flat Rate Claimable Per Month |
| 25 to 50 hours | £10 |
| 51 to 100 hours | £18 |
| 101 hours or more | £26 |
This flat-rate method covers things like heating and electricity, and is simple to apply consistently without needing to retain bills or calculate percentages. It doesn’t cover the business proportion of rent, mortgage interest, or council tax, which need to be calculated separately if you want to claim them.
Option 2: Calculating the Actual Business Proportion of Household Costs
Alternatively, self-employed people can calculate the actual proportion of household costs attributable to business use — typically based on the number of rooms in the property used for work and the proportion of time they’re used for business versus personal purposes. This can include a share of utility bills, council tax, mortgage interest or rent, and home insurance. This method requires more record-keeping but can produce a larger, more accurate deduction than the flat rate, particularly for those with a dedicated home office used extensively for business.
One detail worth flagging: if you designate a room exclusively for business use — never used for anything personal — this can potentially create Capital Gains Tax implications on that portion of the property when you eventually come to sell your home, since the room would no longer qualify for Private Residence Relief in the same way as the rest of the property. Using a room for mixed purposes (work and personal use) avoids this complication and is what most advisers recommend for home offices unless there’s a strong specific reason not to.
Capital Allowances on Equipment
Beyond ongoing household costs, self-employed people can also claim capital allowances on equipment bought wholly for business use — a laptop, a desk, an office chair, a second monitor. This is separate from the household cost claim and applies to the capital cost of the equipment itself, generally claimed through the Annual Investment Allowance or standard capital allowances rules, depending on the item and how it’s used.
For the official, current guidance on simplified expenses for the self-employed, including the exact flat-rate thresholds, HMRC’s guidance on simplified expenses for the self-employed sets out the rules directly, including worked examples comparing the flat rate against the actual-cost method.
What About Limited Company Directors?
If you operate through a limited company, you’re technically an employee of your own company, but the practical mechanism for claiming home-working costs is different from the now-abolished employee relief covered earlier in this guide. Directors can typically have their company pay or reimburse home-working costs directly as an allowable business expense — either using HMRC’s £6/week guideline figure (which remains usable in this specific employer-reimbursement context, separate from the direct-to-HMRC claim that’s been scrapped) or by calculating actual additional costs with supporting evidence. This is paid by the company to the director, reducing the company’s taxable profit, rather than being claimed personally from HMRC — a structurally different route that continues to operate broadly as before.
Given the nuance here — and the fact that getting this wrong can create unwanted tax complications for either the company or the director personally — this is genuinely an area worth a quick conversation with an accountant if you’re not already working with one, particularly if home-working costs form a meaningful part of your company’s expenses.
Practical Steps: What to Actually Do
If you’re an employee who worked from home in 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, or 2025/26 and never claimed: Check whether you met the eligibility test for that specific year (broadly: your employer required you to work from home, or had no suitable office available — voluntary home working never qualified, even under the old rules) and submit a backdated claim via HMRC’s online tax relief for expenses of employment service or a P87 form for each relevant year. Do this sooner rather than later — each year’s four-year window closes on a rolling basis.
If you’re currently employed and working from home from April 2026 onwards: Direct HMRC claims are no longer available to you. If home-working costs are genuinely significant, raise this with your employer — reimbursement paid directly by an employer remains a viable, tax-efficient route, and your employer may not be aware this is now the only option since the direct HMRC relief was scrapped.
If you’re self-employed: Nothing has changed for you. Continue claiming via the flat-rate scale or actual-cost method through your Self Assessment return, as you have done previously, choosing whichever method produces a fairer reflection of your actual costs.
If you’re a limited company director: Speak to your accountant about structuring reimbursement through the company, since the route available to you is different from both the abolished employee relief and the self-employed rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can employees still claim work-from-home tax relief in 2026?
No — not for new claims relating to the 2026/27 tax year onwards. HMRC abolished the flat-rate £6/week relief for employees from 6 April 2026, regardless of whether home working is voluntary or contractually required. However, employees can still backdate claims for tax years up to 2025/26 (the last year the relief existed), within the standard four-year window.
How far back can I claim work-from-home tax relief?
As of the 2026/27 tax year, you can backdate a claim for 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26 — the last year the employee relief existed. Claims for the pandemic years 2020/21 and 2021/22 are now outside the four-year backdating window and can no longer be made.
Does the change affect self-employed people?
No. The April 2026 change applies specifically to employees claiming directly from HMRC. Self-employed sole traders and partnerships continue to claim home-working costs through Self Assessment exactly as before, using either HMRC’s simplified flat-rate scale (£10-£26 a month based on hours worked from home) or the actual proportion of household costs.
Can my employer still pay me for working from home tax-free?
Yes. While employees can no longer claim the relief directly from HMRC, employers can still reimburse home-working costs directly, and this remains a tax-free benefit when structured correctly — typically using HMRC’s £6/week guideline figure or actual costs with evidence. If your employer doesn’t currently offer this, it may be worth raising, since direct reimbursement is now the primary remaining route for employees.
How much was the old work-from-home tax relief actually worth?
The flat-rate relief was £6 a week (£312 a year), which translated into an actual tax saving — not the full £312 — of roughly £62.40 a year for basic-rate taxpayers and up to £140.40 a year for additional-rate taxpayers, since tax relief is calculated at your marginal rate rather than refunding the full claimed amount.
Conclusion
The landscape for work-from-home tax relief in the UK changed meaningfully from 6 April 2026, and anyone relying on older guidance — or simply assuming the familiar £6-a-week claim still applies — needs to update their expectations. For employees, the direct HMRC claim is gone, and the practical alternative is employer reimbursement rather than a personal tax claim. But the door hasn’t fully closed: if you were required to work from home in any of the past four tax years and never claimed, that money is still genuinely available, and it’s worth the relatively small effort of submitting a backdated claim before each year’s window closes.
For the self-employed, nothing has changed at all — the flat-rate and actual-cost methods through Self Assessment continue exactly as before, and remain genuinely worth using if you haven’t been claiming them already. Whichever category you fall into, the common thread is the same one that runs through most of UK tax relief: it exists, it’s legitimate, and a meaningful number of people simply aren’t claiming what they’re entitled to, often because the rules changed and nobody told them.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Tax rules and reliefs change frequently — the information here reflects HMRC rules as understood in mid-2026. Always check current guidance at gov.uk or consult a qualified accountant or tax adviser for advice specific to your circumstances.
