If you’re working from home in the current climate, you might be owed a few quid.
Thousands of people working from home in Ireland have been urged to avail of a tax relief they may not be aware of.
According to Taxback.com, 63% of Ireland’s remote workforce are currently unaware of the a rebate they can claim for working from home.
Employees in that situation can avail of Revenue’s e-worker relief to allow for expenses for utilities such as electricity, heating and broadband, if they are being used for work purposes each day.
An employer can pay employees a tax-free sum of €3.20 per day to cover those and other associated costs, but isn’t legally obligated to do so.
Even if the employer doesn’t pay those daily costs, however, employees can still claim tax relief on them, provided they can support the claim with evidence in the form of receipts and possibly a letter from an employer stating that the employee does work from home and that they are not reimbursed for these expenses.
Commenting on the findings, Joanna Murphy, CEO of Taxback.com, said: “There is a widespread lack of awareness about the working from home relief amongst the general public – 70% of the overall survey group said they did not know about it, and of those who are currently working from home, 63% had no idea they could claim.
“At a time when every penny counts for households, it’s important that people know what they are due and claim accordingly.”
Murphy continued: “We are trying to get the message out to that large cohort of people that are working from home that there are ways to help offset the extra financial burden incurred such as extra ESB, broadband or heating costs”.
More information is available on e-working on the Revenue website here.
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