Teacher Tax Rebates
I am a Teacher and often work from home can I claim tax relief on my costs?
It may be possible for you to claim a teacher tax rebate for the expenses incurred whilst working from home as a teacher. It is normal for a teacher to work from home after school hours and for extra work like exam marking. There are certain requirements that must be reached in order for you to make a successful tax rebate claim of this type.
What Do I Need?
To qualify for tax relief for expenses such as gas and electric costs and business phone calls, you must be employed to work at home or be contractually obligated to spend a proportion of your working hours completing tasks at home. You will normally only receive a tax rebate if it states in your contract that you are required to work from home or you can provide correspondence from your employer confirming this fact.
What Can I Claim?
If it does state in your contract that you must work from home, as of 6th April 2012, HMRC have allowed a payment of up to £4.00 per week, prior to 2012 the rate was £3.00 per week. A teacher tax rebate claim can be made for the last four tax years.
As long as working from home is a requisite in your contract you will not normally need to provide evidence to claim tax relief. However if you incur costs greater than the £4 a week HMRC offer you will usually need to provide evidence, such as itemised phone bills or energy bills to support your claim, and prove what is business usage rather than domestic usage.
What Else Can I Claim For?
As well as claiming a tax rebate for expenses incurred while working from home, many teachers will also be eligible to make a tax rebate claim for other reasons such as using their own car for work purposes, purchasing specialist clothing for their teaching and paying professional fees.
