YourMoneyBack, the Irish Tax Back Specialists explain the A to Z of claiming your Tax Refund as a remote worker.
Tax Relief When Working From Home & Everything you need to know on how to claim this relief
Did you know that there is tax relief available for remote working from home? Due to the Covid pandemic, a large volume of the Irish workforce are working from home on either a full time or part time basis. Don’t miss out on claiming the remote working relief that is available to you. Easy to apply , just fill out our tax refund application form.
Do I qualify for remote working relief?
Remote working relief is where you are required to work from home either on a part-time or full-time basis. Remote working involves working for substantial periods outside of the workplace, logging onto a work computer remotely, sending / receiving emails or files, or developing ideas, products, and services remotely.
Bringing work home outside of the normal working hours does not qualify you for this credit.
How to claim for the remote working relief?
There are two options as to how this credit can be claimed:
- If you are a remote worker, your employer may pay you up to €3.20 a day without deducting PAYE, PRSI or USC. This is to cover the additional costs of working from home for expenses such as electricity, heat and broadband. If your employer makes a payment above €3.20 a day to you, then the any amount above the €3.20 a day will become taxable.
- If you are a remote worker and your employer does not make the above payment of €3.20 a day to you, you can claim the remote working relief.
What costs can be claimed for remote working relief?
You can claim for the following items for the remote working relief apportioned based on the number of days worked from home over the year:
- 10% of the cost of electricity and heat expenses incurred
- 30% of the cost of broadband incurred
Any amounts paid by your employer must be deducted from your claim. Capital items such as laptops, computers, office equipment and office furniture do not qualify as allowable costs.
How to calculate your remote working relief costs?
Number of days worked from home:
When calculating the number of days worked from home during the year, you cannot include weekend or public holidays that you did not work, days taken as annual leave or days that you brought work home outside of the normal working hours.
Costs for electricity, heat, and broadband expenses:
Simply add up your electricity bills and broadband bills from the 1st of January to the 31st of December in the tax year which you are looking at claiming for.
If you share the cost of bills between two or more people, it can be apportioned based on the amount each paid.
10% of electricity bills and 30% of broadband bills for the year can be claimed. These amounts also need to be time apportioned for the days worked from home in a year.
Claim the remote working relief today
If you feel that you could be missing out on claiming the remote working relief, simply register with us at www.yourmoneyback.ie. Our team of qualified accountants, when reviewing your taxes for the last four years, will send you an email requesting the details of your expenses and days worked if the credit applies to you. We will then include this in your full tax review for each of the years.
