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Martin Lewis says millions of people working from home are entitled to extra cash
3 April 2020, 10:49
Millions of Brits are now working from home amid the UK coronavirus lockdown - and they may be entitled to extra money.
Martin Lewis has discovered that people working from home could still be entitled to extra money from the government, even if they are on full pay,
Millions of Brits have been sent from their offices to work from home, and they could be entitled to a small extra sum each month - tax free - from your employer.
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Speaking on a special episode of ITV's Martin Lewis Money Show, he revealed that the extra allowance is there to cover your bills.
He said: "Your employer is allowed to pay you £6 a month tax free if forced to work from home."
Martin also added that you don't have to go to your employer to claim the cash, but straight to HMRC.
"You can now claim it from HMRC," he continued.
"If your employer won't pay expenses for your costs due to necessary working from home, but you have them, then you can ask for the amount to be deducted from your taxable income.
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"To make the process easy, HMRC says that claims in line with the employers' payment (ie, for £6 a week) will not need to justify that figure – meaning you won't need to keep receipts or prove information.
"It's not a huge amount of cash, but it's better than nothing.
"The impact of a £6 a week claim is the tax savings, that's a gain of £1.20 a week (about £62 a year) for basic 20% rate taxpayers, and £2.40 a week (about £124 a year) for higher 40% rate taxpayers."
You can claim more if your extra expenses are higher, but you will need evidence of this.
How to claim the working from home cash amid coronavirus:
The Mirror reports that Martin said: "If you normally do a self-assessment form, you can claim on it. Yet for most people, this will simply require filling in a P87 form."
He added that you can do this online using a P87 form with Government Gateway account, or you can fill out a postal P87 form.
"You'll be asked for your employer's name and PAYE reference (which you can find on your payslip or P60), and your job title," Martin added.
"For postal P87s, you'll also need your national insurance number."
He added that it's best to put £6 for each week spent at home in the "amount you have paid" section and £0 in the "amount paid to you by your employer" section if they haven't boosted your wages.
If using a postal form, he says, you need to select the "Using your home as an office" in "Other expenses" section.
He added: "Once you've submitted the claim, if you do it online you may hear back within a couple of weeks. However, obviously if HMRC is under pressure it may take longer."
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