Complete Guide to Working From Home Tax Relief in Ireland

Revenue-compliant guidance based on Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13 (e-worker expenses) and s.114 TCA 1997, updated for 2025. Revenue source →

PAYE workers in Ireland who worked from home under a formal employer arrangement can claim the e-worker relief: a deduction of 30% of qualifying home utility costs (electricity, heating, and broadband) proportionate to the number of days worked from home. For a worker who pays €2,400 per year in qualifying utility bills and works from home 3 out of 5 days, this produces a tax credit of approximately €288 per year (at the 20% standard rate). Under s.865 TCA 1997, claims can be backdated for four years — 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 are all open. The employer €3.20/day tax-free allowance is a separate employer payment and is not a Revenue claim made by the employee. The e-worker relief is the mechanism through which employees claim their home-working tax benefit directly from Revenue.

What This Complete Guide Covers

• What the e-worker relief is and how it works
• The difference between the e-worker relief and the employer €3.20/day allowance
• How to calculate your qualifying home-working expenses
• Which costs qualify and which do not
• How to backdate claims for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025
• How hybrid workers calculate their proportionate entitlement
• What documentation Revenue requires
• How MyTaxRebate processes WFH claims

Key Facts: WFH Tax Relief in Ireland

• ✓ E-worker relief: 30% of qualifying home expenses (electricity, heating, broadband) proportionate to WFH days
• ✓ Formula: (WFH days ÷ total working days) × 30% × annual qualifying utility cost × 20% tax rate = credit
• ✓ Example: €2,400 utilities, 3/5 days WFH = €288 tax credit per year
• ✓ 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 tax-free payment from the employer — NOT a Revenue claim
• ✓ Qualifying expenses: electricity, heating, and broadband only — not rent, mortgage, insurance, or rates
• ✓ Documentation: Revenue may request utility bills and confirmation of WFH arrangement from employer

The E-Worker Relief: How It Works

The e-worker relief is governed by Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13 and s.114 TCA 1997. It applies to PAYE workers who are required by their employer to work from home — either full-time or as part of a hybrid arrangement — and who incur additional household utility costs as a result. The relief takes the form of a deduction against employment income, with the net effect of reducing the PAYE worker’s taxable income for the year.

The calculation starts with the worker’s actual annual spend on electricity, heating, and broadband. From this total, 30% is treated as attributable to the home-working arrangement. This 30% figure is then further apportioned based on the ratio of days worked from home to total working days in the year. The resulting amount is the deductible e-worker expense for the year. At the 20% standard rate, the tax credit is 20% of the deductible amount.

For a fully remote worker (5 days per week WFH), the apportionment factor is 1.0 — the full 30% of utility costs is deductible. For a hybrid worker who works from home 3 days out of 5, the apportionment factor is 0.6. A worker paying €2,400 per year in electricity, heating, and broadband who works from home 3 out of 5 days receives a deduction of €2,400 × 30% × 60% = €432, producing a tax credit of €86.40 at 20%. Over four years, this accumulates to €345.60. If utility costs are higher or WFH is full-time, the credit is proportionately larger.

It is essential to understand the distinction between the e-worker relief and the employer €3.20/day allowance. The €3.20/day amount is a tax-free payment that employers can choose to make directly to employees to cover their home-working costs under Revenue guidelines. It is paid by the employer, not by Revenue. An employee who receives the €3.20/day allowance from their employer does not separately claim this from Revenue. The e-worker relief, by contrast, is a Revenue claim made by the employee for qualifying home expenses not reimbursed by the employer. Where an employer reimburses utility costs, the reimbursed amount is deducted from the qualifying expense base before calculating the e-worker relief.

The four-year backdating window under s.865 TCA 1997 means that in 2025, claims for the e-worker relief are available for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The 2020 and 2021 years closed on 31 December 2024 and are no longer available. Workers who have not claimed the e-worker relief for any of the four currently open years can claim all four simultaneously through MyTaxRebate.

Worked Calculation Examples

Common Mistakes

• Confusing the employer €3.20/day allowance with a Revenue claim. The €3.20/day is a tax-free employer payment; the e-worker relief is the separate mechanism through which employees claim from Revenue.
• Trying to claim rent or mortgage interest as a qualifying home-working expense. Revenue does not permit rent or mortgage costs in the e-worker expense calculation; only electricity, heating, and broadband qualify.
• Not applying the WFH day proportion correctly. The relief must be apportioned based on actual days worked from home out of total working days; claiming the full 30% for a hybrid worker who works from home only 2 days per week is incorrect.
• Believing that 2020 is still within the backdating window. The 2020 claim year closed on 31 December 2024. The open years in 2025 are 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
• Not claiming at all because the per-year amount seems small. Over four years, a hybrid worker’s e-worker relief accumulates to €300–€600, and combined with other applicable reliefs the total refund is frequently €800 or more.

When the E-Worker Relief Does Not Apply

The e-worker relief does not apply to workers who chose to work from home on an informal or occasional basis without a formal employer arrangement requiring home working. The relief is intended for workers whose employer requires them to work from home on a regular basis as part of their employment terms.

Workers whose employer has fully reimbursed all home utility costs attributable to their working-from-home arrangement cannot claim the e-worker relief on those costs because the expense has already been covered. If the employer reimburses only part of the costs, the unreimbursed portion remains claimable.

Self-employed individuals cannot claim the e-worker relief through the PAYE mechanism. Self-employed workers who use a portion of their home for business purposes can claim a proportion of home expenses as a deductible business expense in their annual Form 11 self-assessment return, but this is a different mechanism calculated differently from the PAYE e-worker relief.

Key Takeaways

• PAYE workers with a formal WFH arrangement can claim 30% of qualifying home expenses (electricity, heating, broadband) proportionate to WFH days via the Revenue e-worker relief.
• The employer €3.20/day allowance is a separate employer payment — not a Revenue claim. The e-worker relief is the Revenue mechanism for employee claims.
• Claims for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 are all open; the 2020 and 2021 windows are closed.
• MyTaxRebate calculates the exact entitlement for all four open years and combines WFH relief with all other applicable PAYE reliefs in a single comprehensive claim.

Related WFH Tax Relief Guides

• Broadband and electricity tax relief for home workers
• Hybrid working tax relief in Ireland 2025
• Claiming WFH relief for multiple years
• Employer allowance vs e-worker relief: what is the difference?
• Home office expenses you can claim in Ireland
• How to claim WFH expenses in Ireland

Frequently Asked Questions