Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking with HMRC to provide financial assistance for increased utilities costs to those working from home during the covid-19 outbreak.

Employees who have been advised to work from home during the COVID-19 outbreak are eligible to claim tax relief for the additional cost of heating and lighting the room in which they work and for the cost of business telephone calls. They can claim relief on a fixed amount of £4 per week up to 5 April 2020 and £6 per week thereafter. This increase was announced at Budget. Alternatively, employees can claim relief on the actual amounts incurred, subject to them being able to provide evidence, such as phone bills.

In addition, the Government has introduced legislation so that, where an employer encourages their staff to purchase their own home office equipment and reimburses the expense, an exemption will ensure that employees now receive the full reimbursement free from tax and Class 1 National Insurance Contributions (NICs). This is a temporary exemption which applies from 16 March 2020 until 5 April 2021. Relevant guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-expenses-are-taxable-if-your-employee-works-from-home-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19.