Broadband and Electricity Tax Relief Ireland 2025 Guide

Reviewed by: MyTaxRebate Team on 11 Mar 2026 | Authority: s.865 TCA 1997 | TDM Part 05-02-13

Quick Answer

PAYE workers in Ireland who work from home under a formal employer arrangement can claim 30% of their qualifying home utility costs - specifically electricity, heating, and broadband - proportionate to their WFH days. This is the Revenue e-worker relief, claimed under s.865 TCA 1997.

For a worker paying €2,400 per year in qualifying bills and working from home full-time, the annual tax credit is €144 (30% × 100% × €2,400 × 20%). Claims can be backdated to 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 - the four currently open years.

What This Page Covers

• ✓Which utility costs qualify for the e-worker relief
• ✓How to calculate your broadband and electricity deduction
• ✓How the WFH day proportion affects the claim amount
• ✓Why the employer €3.20/day allowance is separate from the Revenue claim
• ✓How to claim for all four open years: 2022 to 2025
• ✓What documentation Revenue may request

Key Facts at a Glance

• ✓E-worker relief: 30% of qualifying home expenses (electricity, heating, broadband) × WFH day proportion
• ✓Formula: (WFH days ÷ total working days) × 30% × annual utility cost × 20% = tax credit
• ✓Claims backdatable four years under s.865 TCA 1997 - 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 are open
• ✓The employer €3.20/day allowance is a separate employer payment - NOT a Revenue claim by the employee
• ✓Qualifying expenses: electricity, heating, broadband only (not rent, mortgage, or insurance)
• ✓Example: €2,400 utilities full-time WFH = €144 tax credit per year; four years = €576

Which Utility Costs Qualify?

Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13 specifies that the e-worker relief applies to three categories of home utility expense: electricity, heating (gas, oil, or solid fuel), and broadband. These are the costs that directly increase when a worker spends additional time at home as a result of a formal WFH arrangement.

The calculation starts with the actual annual spend on these three items combined. From this total, 30% is treated as attributable to the home-working arrangement - this is a fixed Revenue-determined proportion. This 30% figure is then multiplied by the WFH day proportion (WFH days ÷ total working days). The result is the deductible e-worker expense for the year. At the 20% standard income tax rate, the tax credit is 20% of the deductible amount.

Costs that do not qualify include rent, mortgage interest, home insurance, council tax or rates, water charges, phone calls, and any other household expenses not specifically listed in Revenue's TDM. Only the three qualifying categories should be included in the calculation.

How the Employer Allowance Fits In

One of the biggest sources of confusion is the relationship between the Revenue e-worker relief and the employer's optional tax-free daily allowance. These are not the same thing. The employer allowance is a payroll payment made at the employer's discretion. The e-worker relief is a tax deduction calculated from actual qualifying utility costs. A worker can receive the allowance and still have a valid Revenue claim, but the claim must only cover the costs that were not already reimbursed. That is where careful preparation matters.

MyTaxRebate treats this as a coordination exercise rather than a yes-or-no question. We review whether the employer paid nothing, paid the flat daily amount, or directly reimbursed specific bills. We then map that against the utility evidence and the home-working pattern for each year. This avoids the two common errors: assuming the allowance blocks a claim completely, or assuming the same costs can be claimed twice.

Why a Full PAYE Review Often Produces More

A PAYE worker who qualifies for home-working relief often has other PAYE refund items in the same open years. The most common overlap is flat-rate expenses for occupation-specific costs, but medical and dental expenses, rent credit, and job-change overpayments are also common. That is why MyTaxRebate does not treat a WFH article as an isolated claim topic. The better question is not only "what is the e-worker amount?" but "what is the full recoverable refund across all open years once WFH is combined with everything else that legitimately applies?"

In practice, this broader review matters most for workers whose WFH amount on its own looks modest. Someone might only be due a few hundred euro from the utility calculation, but once flat-rate expenses or unclaimed medical relief are added, the four-year total becomes materially more valuable. A professional review prevents those secondary entitlements from being missed simply because the worker started by looking at WFH alone.

Common Errors That Reduce Valid Claims

The recurring mistakes are very consistent: including rent or mortgage costs that do not qualify, forgetting to remove employer reimbursements, using one year's bills for several claim years, or treating an informal choice to work at home as if it were a formal employer-required arrangement. Each of those mistakes can either reduce the true entitlement or create avoidable queries. MyTaxRebate corrects these issues before submission by separating qualifying from non-qualifying costs and matching each year to its own evidence.

Another common error is stopping at the most recent year. Workers often fix 2025 and leave 2022, 2023, or 2024 untouched, even though those years remain open. The result is not a wrong claim, but an incomplete one. A proper four-year review prevents the earliest open year from being missed, which is especially important because the oldest open year is always the one closest to expiry.

Tax Scenarios

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• ✗Confusing the employer €3.20/day allowance with a Revenue claim. The €3.20/day is an optional tax-free employer payment; the e-worker relief is what the employee claims from Revenue.
• ✗Claiming rent or mortgage interest as a qualifying expense. Only electricity, heating, and broadband qualify for the e-worker relief.
• ✗Referencing 2020 as an open claim year. The 2020 and 2021 windows closed permanently on 31 December 2024. The open years in 2025 are 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
• ✗Not claiming because the per-year amount seems modest. Over four years and combined with other reliefs, the total WFH + flat-rate + medical refund frequently reaches €800 - €1,400.
• ✗Including costs such as home insurance or water charges in the utility total. Only electricity, heating, and broadband qualify.

When This Does Not Apply

Key Takeaways

• PAYE workers can claim 30% of electricity, heating, and broadband costs proportionate to WFH days via the Revenue e-worker relief.
• Claims for all four open years (2022 to 2025) can be submitted simultaneously through MyTaxRebate.
• Only electricity, heating, and broadband qualify - not rent, mortgage, insurance, or other household costs.
• The employer €3.20/day allowance is a separate employer payment and is not claimed from Revenue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• Complete guide to WFH tax relief in Ireland
• Hybrid working tax relief in Ireland 2025
• Employer allowance vs e-worker relief explained
• Claiming WFH relief for multiple years
• Home office expenses you can claim in Ireland