Tax relief if working from home. Discuss.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

My kids are past the childcare stage. I bring my own lunch into the office. I cycle commute.

I have no WFH savings, just additional costs for light, heating, broadband,furniture plus the loss of my spare bedroom.

The tax relief is a very small recovery of a small part of the extra costs.

Really, the employer should be paying me rent out of the considerable savings they will be making on office space over the coming years.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027097#Comment_118027097

Your employer should be paying rent for you to stay in your own house? And will you provide the necessary requirements to fulfill the rental agreement with your employer? What if your employer decides they want someone else to occupy your space for business needs. I mean it's a rental agreement after all and the company can decide how to use that space.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027175#Comment_118027175

Why shouldn't they pay rent? I can't use the room as a spare bedroom now. I had to get rid of the bed to fit the desk (bought at my own expense) in. They're going to be winding down on office space commitments over the coming years with this hybrid model, probably cutting office space and associated costs by half. Lots of rental agreements have conditions about how the space can be used, so having a rental agreement isn't handing over all rights and controls. If I'm losing a bedroom for ever, they should of course be paying for that space.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027429#Comment_118027429

I presume you have demanded your employer pay rent or are you just ranting here on boards about it? What did they say? You seem like you are very unhappy where you work. Might be time to move jobs.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

-meal cost savings.

Yes. I no longer eat since I work from home, save a fortune 🙄

joseywhales

I already submit a smallish % of mortgage as a business expense on my taxes, I've worked from home for several years now. I'm not sure if you can do that as an employee?

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118032369#Comment_118032369

Many do save on food when wfh.

Economies of scale if purchasing and cooking for a few vs buying out or in a work canteen.

Not by having to resort to abstaining like yourself.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

People who didn’t normally work from home were asked by Government to work from home where possible. For this inconvenience they were compensated in the form of being able to claim tax relief on utilities where they wouldn’t normally have been entitled to claim tax relief on utilities because they weren’t normally working from home. That’s all it boils down to.

Whatever individual savings or extra costs incurred by working from home are the responsibility of the individual, not the Government.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118032684#Comment_118032684

Not comparing like with like.

A lot of people bring lunches to work. If I make a sandwich at home, it doesn't matter whether I eat it in the office or at home, it still costs the same.

I could nip out for a big dirty breakfast roll when wfh if I wanted.

Most people eat their main meal in the evening at home, doesn't matter if they are wfh or not.

Many subsidised work canteens are cheaper than you would pay for takeaway food, some cheaper than cooking it yourself.

Also, sarcasm fail on your part.

In short, stupid thread is stupid.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118032865#Comment_118032865

Thread topic opinion aside, the sarcasm was initiated by you.

"Yes. I no longer eat since I work from home, save a fortune 🙄"

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118032420#Comment_118032420

No you cannot.

Not even if you have to rent a separate office because your home is not large enough to WFH in.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027982#Comment_118027982

Ah, the oul Owen Keegan 'let them eat cake' defence. Suppose I should have expected that around here.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118026632#Comment_118026632

What about the people who cycle or walk to work, pre covid, should they pay more tax since they dont have commuting expenses?

Your argument is simply missing 1 vital ingredient, logic.

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

There has been a tax relief for sometime. Its just slightly increased.

Im not sure what you dont buy about extra energy cost.

Use of laptops, pcs, monitors, printers, charging work phones, increased use of own lights, kettle etc.

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118025857#Comment_118025857

Not necessarily. Many people also had to purchase work desks and chairs.

This tax credit is tiny so I dunno why you are moaning to be honest.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118033481#Comment_118033481

Have you or have you not asked your employer to pay you rent? It's a simple question.

dudley72

How do you have childcare savings? if you are working from home then you are working.

You can't have a load of kids running around, if someone has children in creche etc it doesn't matter if they are in office or at home the kids still go into the creche. It was accepted during covid that you had kids in background because of the situation, now childcare is open it is no longer accepted. So no childcare saavings

Saving on food? people bring lunch's into work all the time, you don't have to go out everyday for lunch so that is personal choice, I also know people who WFH but will drop out to a cafe etc that is close to gran lunch.

You need to buy and create and office in your house, as someone mentioned sitting at a table for 8 hours aint going to work.

The main advantage is commute times, but then again you will find people work longer hours at home because they dont have 1-2 hours sitting in a car.

You have to heat/power/cool etc your house now instead of going into an office. You are using electric instead of a companies electricity. As far as I am aware if your company contributes towards these costs then the tax saving goes or is reduced. This is what it is for. Simple.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118034824#Comment_118034824

It's not all about me. There are bigger issues at play here.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027088#Comment_118027088

Many company's have discovered most work can be done from home

They've also confirmed the concerns about lack of productivity, issues with security, etc. There's been a movement to portray wfh as being the next wonderful step for society, with many of the problems being downplayed or dismissed entirely.

There's also the social/psychological problems whereby many people enjoy/need the community of working with others, because they have little of that in their private lives, which would be compounded by shifting everything to the home. For many people who have moved to the cities (change of scenery, get away from family, access to employment or infrastructure, etc), the workplace provides a place for them to meet others and form friendships, which can be difficult to achieve otherwise.

TBH I suspect we''ll see a skew of negatives arising due to this push for wfh to become normalised. It's suitable for some people (their personalities, and individual circumstances) but for many others, it just isn't healthy or convenient.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118035899#Comment_118035899

Most companies are going hybrid, very few are auddenly pushing a 100% WFH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118035923#Comment_118035923

Oh, I'm aware, but the media attitude has been that wfh would be the endgame... which is reflected by the general opinions on this thread.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118036034#Comment_118036034

Lots of companies had WFH and dedicated staff who never went into the office long before anythign about covid was in the conversation, nothing will change for those companies. Some other have introduced on the back of covid but it will not be a huge change for the majority

VinLieger

With 2 children in childcare ive made no savings wfh there and my work provided lunch and a stocked kitchen/pantry so i was well looked after in that regard. Balancing heating/electric costs with food costs vs minimal savings on commuting im definitely down due to wfh.

moycullen14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118037126#Comment_118037126

And then I would have huge savings on a commute and the office was a bit sh*t in the middle of a business park with no amenities.

Talking to a friend today who took 1hr 20 minutes to do a 20mile commute ... and that was leaving before 7am. That's the game changer for me. I've been commuting more or less constantly for the last 30 years. No more of this. Everyone's situation is different, I suppose.

I estimate my commute costs at about 4K per annum. That'll stock the fridge for a long time!

Andrea B.

At this stage of the game, it has become obvious that there are many WFH, who are taking p*"".

Whining kids in background, muffled meetings from cars in transit (coincidentally Fridays).

Starting to hit moral of those who must attend work and pay for commuting and childcare and take annual leave when travelling.

Don't all attack back together. I said "many". Not "all".

Xidu

Electricity and wifi bill is higher.

I thought that’s the only relief u can get is some electricity and partial wifi bill.

didn’t hear any other tax relief

riclad

yes if you have a pc ,laptop, on all day it uses power. working from home is the future ,it reduces commute times and traffic .not everyone has a powerful pc, laptop, webcam, it costs money to build a home office with modern equipment .WFH means people can work in rural area,s instead of all working in citys or big office buildings.this could bring life back to some small towns.in winter heating bill may be higher .i dont think anyone miss,s spending an hour every day commuting to work

ILoveYourVibes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

They give people who spend money on their own office tax relief. So long as that money doesn't really aid your homelife ..you can deduct it.

Its not specific to a home office but many situations where you might rent an office ...

Some people BUILD home offices. It has a cost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INPswB2dtDQ

GIVE CHRIS A BREAK!

Will_I_Amnt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213334/tax-relief-if-working-from-home-discuss

As someone who lives 1 mile from the office and who has no childcare costs - I haven't saved in any of those things

And wherever I work, I still have to eat!