Are you or your employees working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic? Here’s what you need to know to pay or claim tax-free expenses.
Revenue provides for certain tax-free expenses to be paid to employees who qualify as eWorkers. An eWorker is an employee who works from home either on a full-time or part-time basis. Employees who bring work home outside of normal working hours do not qualify as eWorkers.
An employer may make a payment of €3.20 per workday to an eWorker without deducting PAYE, PRSI, or USC taxes. This payment is to cover basic expenses, such as heating and electricity costs. If you wish to repay your employee for costs higher than €3.20 per day, taxes must be deducted.
If you do not pay the eWorking allowance to your employees, they may make a claim for tax relief at the end of the year. They will then receive a tax refund based on the number of days they worked from home and the cost of their expenses. They can make this claim through Revenue’s myAccount service.
An employer may also provide equipment such as a computer, printer, scanner, software, telephone, internet, or office furniture for business use. This is not a Benefit-in-Kind, provided that private use by the employee is minimal.
Further information from Revenue can be found here: https://www.revenue.ie/en/jobs-and-pensions/eworking/index.aspx
