On 17 October 2024, HMRC updated it’s guidance regarding the evidence requirements when claiming expenses for working from home.
Previously, the guidance said that a taxpayer must evidence that the employee is home-based, as per their contract of employment. Or provide evidence via another source that home is regarded as the permanent workplace. This still applies – but, bearing in mind that tax relief can be claimed for prior tax years and in line with HMRC’s previous guidance, the evidence requirements section has the following added:
No evidence is required for ‘working from home’ expense claims for tax years 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 provided that:
- employees were instructed to work from home (due to UK government Covid restrictions)
- they are submitted within the time limits
For Bookkeepers
P87 claims may be relevant to bookkeepers when they are acting as authorised agents on the taxpayer’s behalf or the taxpayer nominates the agent to receive a tax refund on their behalf. Therefore, the updated guidance highlights two points:
1. Where agents offer P87 completion / nomination as a service, the Agent Reference Number (ARN) must be quoted, and
2. The time limit for claiming expenses for closed tax years is four years after the end of the tax year
Therefore, it is quite possible that expense claims for 2020/21 and 2021/22 may still be submitted and it is welcome that HMRC have updated their guidance.
