The Income Tax (Exemption for Coronavirus Related Home Office Expenses) Regulations 2020

Statutory Instruments

2020 No. 524

Income Tax

The Income Tax (Exemption for Coronavirus Related Home Office Expenses) Regulations 2020

Made

20th May 2020

Laid before the House of Commons

21st May 2020

Coming into force

11th June 2020

The Treasury, in exercise of the power conferred by section 210 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003(1), make the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement, interpretation and effect

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Income Tax (Exemption for Coronavirus Related Home Office Expenses) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 11th June 2020 and have effect for amounts reimbursed on or after that date but before the end of the tax year 2020-21.

(3) In these Regulations—

“coronavirus” has the meaning given in section 1 of the Coronavirus Act 2020(2);

“ITEPA” means the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

Exemption for coronavirus related home office expenses

2.—(1) There is no charge to tax under Chapter 10 of Part 3 (taxable benefits: residual liability to charge) of ITEPA for an amount reimbursed to an employee in respect of coronavirus related home office expenses.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) “coronavirus related home office expenses” means expenses incurred by an employee in respect of equipment where—

(a) that equipment was obtained for the sole purpose of enabling the employee to work from home as a result of the coronavirus outbreak; and

(b) the provision of the equipment would have been exempt from income tax under section 316 of ITEPA if it had been provided directly to the employee by or on behalf of the employer.

Iain Stewart

Michael Tomlinson

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

20th May 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for an exemption from income tax for amounts reimbursed to an employee for expenses that the employee has incurred in obtaining office equipment to enable home working necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak.

These Regulations will take effect for reimbursements made on or after the date the Regulations come into force up until the end of the tax year 2020-21.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument will be published on the website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-information-and-impact-notes-tiins.

(1)

2003 c.1.

(2)

2020 c.7.