{"id":23638,"date":"2023-02-07T18:38:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T18:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?p=23638"},"modified":"2026-02-02T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:04:50","slug":"what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you work from home, you may find you\u2019re spending more on household bills or home office equipment. Did you know that you may be able to <strong>claim back expenses when working from home<\/strong> if you\u2019re self-employed? Read below to find out which expenses are tax-deductible!<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div> <!-- .c-body -->\n\n<div class=\"b-cta-mini m-orange m-align-left\">\n    \n    <div class=\"b-cta-mini__content\">\n\n        \n        <h2 class=\"b-cta-mini__title\">Hey, have you sorted your tax return yet?<\/h2>\n\n        \n        \n        <div class=\"b-cta-mini__body\">\n            <div class=\"b-block-body\"><p><span class=\"notion-enable-hover\" data-token-index=\"0\">Avoid costly mistakes and let Taxfix take care of it for you. Our UK-accredited accountants make filing quick and stress-free, starting from just \u00a3119.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n        \n        \n        <div class=\"b-cta-mini__action\">\n\n            <a data-js=\"openAuth\" data-location=\"\" data-view=\"signup\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/assessment\/signup\" class=\"gtm-get-started-button c-button  m-large\" onClick=\"javascript:setVariant('taxReturn');\">Start<\/a>\n\n\n        <\/div>\n\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div> <!-- .b-cta-mini -->\n\n<div class=\"c-body\">\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s meant by expenses?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Technically, anything you have to pay for is an expense. But because we\u2019re talking tax, <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/expenses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expenses<\/a> are costs incurred from running your business. You can claim these costs against your earnings to reduce your tax bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll want to remember this golden rule when it comes to expenses: they must be incurred <em>wholly, exclusively and necessarily<\/em> for the running of your business to be tax-deductible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tax in 10(ish) seconds - what are expenses?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H2yyiSfSdoE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What working from home expenses can I claim in the UK?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can claim pretty much any cost you can prove you\u2019ve incurred solely from running your business from home. This might be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A portion of your utility bills (gas, electric, water)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A portion of your rent payments or mortgage interest<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any excess internet and mobile phone usage&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Part of your council tax bill<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<\/div> <!-- .c-body -->\n\n<div class=\"b-highlight-mini m-nude m-align-left\">\n    <div class=\"b-block-body\">\n        <p>Think of it like this.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re a self-employed baker. You find that your home electricity bill has rocketed compared to when you worked in an external kitchen (sob). Because you\u2019re using a percentage of the electricity for work, you\u2019ll be able to claim this as an expense.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Buttttt! \ud83d\udd90\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019ll be able to claim your <em>entire<\/em> electricity bill as an expense (unless you can prove it was used wholly for work). So, be sure to leave out the electricity units that were used for the Sunday roasts. \ud83c\udf7d\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/div> <!-- .b-highlight-mini -->\n\n<div class=\"c-body\">\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/static.elfsight.com\/platform\/platform.js\" data-use-service-core defer><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"elfsight-app-b3abc3f9-5655-42a9-adb4-882903674975\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do you claim working from home expenses?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Expenses aren\u2019t an automatic tax relief. It\u2019s on you to include them on your Self Assessment tax return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although you don\u2019t have to send proof along with your tax return, you do have to keep receipts. You never know when HMRC will ask to see proof (better to be safe than sorry! \ud83d\ude05)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should keep proof of expenses for at least three years. This can be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Physical or digital receipts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A bill or bank statement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 Remember, expenses are different to the <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/home-office-allowance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">home office allowance<\/a> (which leads us to our next question!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, what\u2019s the home office allowance?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The home office allowance is a flat rate amount you can claim back if you use your home for work. The amount you can claim depends on how many hours you work from home per month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of this flat rate system, you won\u2019t have to go around your home with a measuring tape calculating exactly how many centimetres of it you used for work! (Thank goodness\ud83d\ude05).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, you\u2019ll just use these rates to work out how much you can claim:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Hours of business use per month<\/td><td>Flat rate that you can claim<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>25 \u2013 50 hours<\/td><td>\u00a310 per month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>51 \u2013 100 hours<\/td><td>\u00a318 per month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>More than 101 hours<\/td><td>\u00a326 per month<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other flat rate allowances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like the home allowance, there are other ways you can claim expenses if you don\u2019t particularly fancy adding up all your expenses and documenting the proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trading allowance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re self-employed and earn less than \u00a31,000 a year, you won\u2019t have to report or pay tax on this income.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, you can also use this allowance against your expenses (if they\u2019re under \u00a31,000.) The best part? You don\u2019t need receipts to claim the <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/trading-allowance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trading allowance<\/a>. \ud83d\udeae<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mileage allowance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you use your car for work, you can claim the mileage allowance. How much you can claim depends on how much you travel for business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a car or van, the rate is currently 45p\/mile, which goes down to 25p\/mile for every mile after your first 10,000 miles. Confused? Our <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/mileage-allowance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mileage allowance guide<\/a> can help with that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Need a hand claiming expenses on your tax return?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Leave it with us! Whether you need help understanding what expenses you can and can\u2019t claim, or you just want someone to sort the whole thing for you, we\u2019re more than happy to help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about our services <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you work from home, you may find you\u2019re spending more on household bills or home office equipment. Did you know that you may be able to claim back expenses when working from home if you\u2019re self-employed? Read below to find out which expenses are tax-deductible! What\u2019s meant by expenses? Technically, anything you have to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[356,348,411],"class_list":["post-23638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-employed-tax-returns","tag-expenses","tag-income-tax","tag-self-employed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taxfix_uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-07T18:38:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T17:04:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/eyJhc3NldF9pZCI6NTY3OH0_taxfix-gmbh_UwIjumOzeyPqNyDgJ1bVY_OROVADgg2mBtzSX1XQ7A0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"seleisha scarlett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/\",\"name\":\"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-07T18:38:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-02T17:04:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/616bff125404e6073744133ef2e5d1c9\"},\"description\":\"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/\",\"name\":\"Taxfix\",\"description\":\"Taxes as they should be done\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/616bff125404e6073744133ef2e5d1c9\",\"name\":\"seleisha scarlett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f768b6af82f7fecd97c6870718bde2c5e3888fde53b5d61220bad064f2c56d92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f768b6af82f7fecd97c6870718bde2c5e3888fde53b5d61220bad064f2c56d92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"seleisha scarlett\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix","description":"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix","og_description":"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.","og_url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/","og_site_name":"Taxfix","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taxfix_uk","article_published_time":"2023-02-07T18:38:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-02T17:04:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/eyJhc3NldF9pZCI6NTY3OH0_taxfix-gmbh_UwIjumOzeyPqNyDgJ1bVY_OROVADgg2mBtzSX1XQ7A0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"seleisha scarlett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Taxfix","twitter_site":"@Taxfix","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/","url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/","name":"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK? &#8211; Taxfix","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-07T18:38:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T17:04:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/616bff125404e6073744133ef2e5d1c9"},"description":"A portion of utility bills, mortgage interest... Find out what expenses you can claim when working from home in the UK and how to claim them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/what-expenses-can-i-claim-when-working-from-home-in-the-uk\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What expenses can I claim when working from home in the UK?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/","name":"Taxfix","description":"Taxes as they should be done","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/616bff125404e6073744133ef2e5d1c9","name":"seleisha scarlett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f768b6af82f7fecd97c6870718bde2c5e3888fde53b5d61220bad064f2c56d92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f768b6af82f7fecd97c6870718bde2c5e3888fde53b5d61220bad064f2c56d92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"seleisha scarlett"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23638"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44642,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23638\/revisions\/44642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}