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Working from home flat-rate calculator
If you are self-employed and work from home, GOV.UK lets you claim a flat monthly amount for use of home instead of working out the business share of every bill. Enter your typical hours below to see your rate and annual allowance. It runs in your browser, stores nothing, and needs no signup. Not tax advice.
What can you claim for working from home?
The flat rate does not include telephone or internet. You can claim the business proportion of those bills separately, by working out the actual cost. And you cannot mix the two methods for the same thing: it is either the flat rate or actual costs, not both.
If your hours vary a lot month to month, take the band that matches each month and add them up (that is the 12-month view). The flat rate covers heat, light and power for the room you work in; it does not cover a proportion of rent, mortgage interest or council tax, which the actual-costs method can.
Simplified-expenses flat rates for working from home, per GOV.UK, checked 11 August 2026. This is the self-employed simplified method, not the employee working-from-home allowance. Confirm your own position with GOV.UK, your accountant or bookkeeper. Not tax or financial advice.
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How the flat rate works
- You can only use the flat rate if you work 25 hours or more a month from home.
- The rate is per month, by hours of business use: 25 to 50 hours is £10, 51 to 100 is £18, 101 or more is £26.
- It saves you working out the business proportion of your heat, light and power.
- It does not include telephone or internet — claim the business share of those separately, by actual cost.
- You cannot claim the flat rate and actual costs for the same thing; pick one method.
- If your hours vary, take the band for each month and add them up across the year.
Flat rate or actual costs?
The flat rate is simplest and needs no receipts for utilities. The actual-costs method can be worth more if you have high home running costs or want to claim a proportion of rent, mortgage interest or council tax (which the flat rate does not cover), but it needs you to apportion each bill by floor area and time. Many sole traders use the flat rate for simplicity. Whichever you choose, record it under "Use of home" — the MTD Ready Kit workbook has that category built in. The kit is a record-keeping tool, not tax software, and not tax advice.
Related
- Allowable expenses for UK sole traders — what you can and cannot claim, use of home included.
- VAT registration threshold checker — how close your turnover is to £90,000.
- Sole trader take-home calculator — turn profit into estimated income tax, NI and take-home.
Educational only — not tax, legal, or financial advice. This is the self-employed simplified-expenses method, not the separate rules for employees or limited companies. Flat rates per GOV.UK: simplified expenses, working from home. This page carries no affiliate links. Checked 11 August 2026.