Working from home calculator

Pick who you are, tell us about your home office and we'll fill in the claim, flat rate or actual costs, whichever pays you more.

Who are you? Self-employedSole trader or partner EmployeeYour employer pays you EmployeeClaiming tax relief yourself

Tax year

2025/26 2026/27

Your top rate of tax

20% 40% 45%

Hours a month you work at home

120

Hours in a working day

Rooms in your home

Rooms you work in

Heating and electricity a year

Council Tax a year

Mortgage interest or rent a year

Business share of phone and internet a year claimed on top, whichever method you use

Weeks a year you work at home

Extra household costs a week from working at home gas, electricity and business calls, with bills to show for it

You can only claim if you have to work from home, for example because your employer has no office. Choosing to work from home doesn't count.

Your home office claim

£81.81a month

A year: £982
Tax and NI it saves: £255
Best way to claim: Share of actual costs

Ask us to claim it or call 01444 716592

Flat rate or actual costs: which pays more?

The flat rate climbs in three steps as your hours go up. A share of your real bills climbs with every day you work at home. Drag the marker along the chart and watch the two stacks race.

Flat rate (£10, £18 or £26 a month)Share of your actual bills

£312

Flat rate

£802

Actual costs

Actual costswins by £490

What you can claim depends on you.

The rules are different for the self-employed and for employees, and they changed for employees in April 2026.

Self-employed

Claim a flat rate of £10, £18 or £26 a month, depending on your hours at home, or a fair share of your heating, electricity, Council Tax and mortgage interest or rent. Under 25 hours a month, only the share of real costs works.

Your employer pays you

Your employer can pay up to £6 a week (£26 a month for monthly pay) towards extra household costs without tax or NI. More than that needs evidence of what working at home actually costs you.

Employees claiming relief

From 6 April 2026 you can no longer claim tax relief for working from home. If you had to work from home before then, you can still claim for the 4 earlier tax years.

Desk, laptop and lamp set up in the spare room of a cottage as a home office

Records to keep, and a word of warning.

Whichever way you claim, keep enough to show HMRC how you got to the figure.

Hours

For the flat rate

A simple log of the hours you work at home each month. No bills needed.

Bills

For actual costs

Your energy bills, Council Tax and mortgage or rent statements, plus how you worked out the business share.

Calls

Phone and internet

Itemised bills showing the business calls and a fair business share of broadband.

Rooms

A room used only for work

Using part of your home only for business can affect the tax when you sell your home. Talk to us before you claim a share of the mortgage or Council Tax.

Let us put the claim in your return.

We'll pick the method that pays you more, keep the workings on file and include it in your Self Assessment. Most people hear back within 15 minutes in office hours.

Get a quote Call 01444 716592