Tax relief if working from home. Discuss.

Plenty of people dislike working from home full-time. I was offered it 5 days a week in a previous job (in 2018 so not a whiff of this current predicament) and turned it down - was happy with 2, weirdly 3 wasn't an option - 2 or 5 only!

Anyway - I see this as the state providing something employers should be doing. Employers can and will be adapting their office environments to save money having less staff in - less floor area, less heating/cooling costs, less cleaning costs, lower water rates etc etc. They can provide for WFH staff in various ways.

"By your argument, if i have a crash on way to work, my employer/state should cover my losses, as i was not given option of wfh, whereby i would not then have been exposed to the risk?"

If you have a crash on your way to

work, and suffer personal injury, there is a social welfare payment for that coded for in public payrolls at least. Can't recall it but, yes, when journeying to or from work, directly in a single journey, you are your employer's concern.

Edit: Injury Benefit

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/dfb66f-operational-guidelines-injury-benefit/#accidents-while-travelling-to-or-from-work

As a footnote, yes, it could get quite interesting regarding financial damages as a result of a crash on the way to work if that employee was granted Injury Benefit and had also previously made a claim for WFH and been denied it. Maybe even had a WRC in progress. Could see that evolving casuisticly into a decent possibility.

I think it has already been explained - if you incur a cost to do your job, it is tax deductible. People are taxed the same regardless of the benefits their employer offers in working hours. WFH might have quality of life benefits, but since when has quality of life outside working hours been considered a taxable benefit in kind?

If you want to get down into the nitty gritty, Ireland is trying to achieve reduced carbon emissions. If people can work from home and by doing so not congest motorways or increase emissions by travelling unnecessarily, then there is a rationale for a tax incentive. However, that is not what is happening - people are just being given the same right to deduct work related expenses.

You obviously have an issue.

Again, that would very much depends on you individual circumstances. Had to be in the office for 8 this morning, was in in 15 minutes, would normally take 25 to 30 pre covid.

To be clear I worked every day in my place of work ' stoking the boilers' but I recognise the people that turned their homes into offices .

There's extra heating costs, energy costs, for people at home all day long. not everyone has a large spare room to make a hi tech home office with room for a desk , monitor. If you are using zoom you might need extra lights a camera and audio equipment. Also it reduces rush hour traffic , oil and petrol use , air pollution , I think working from home is the future, it might be many people will go to an office 1 or 2 days a week

If workers get a tax credit I see no problem with that also it reduces rush hour traffic jams everyone tends to go to work between 7 am to 9 am. It may make it easier for some mothers to work from home and also take care of children

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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