P87: A little known tax rebate
For many employees, Covid-19 meant that working from home became a very sudden reality.
Whilst the challenges that people have faced making the readjustment is well-documented, what is less well known is that working from home does provide a small tax benefit for employees.
Things that you may have spent money on include:
- Using your own phone to make a work-related call
- Heating or air conditioning
- Adjustments made to your home to convert into the workspace.
- Increases in your broadband capacity
- Claim as part of end of self assessment
It’s worth bearing in mind that if you have made a significant purchase to repurpose a room to work from home and think you’re entitled to more tax rebate on those you will need to provide receipts.
If your employer is repaying you for this it is classed as a benefit in kind thus falls outside P87 remit (you cannot claim an expense twice!).
What the P87 does is to add £6 a week to your tax-free allowance which is £12,500. If your employer asked you to work from home for 20 weeks you would add £120. Thus increasing your personal allowance to £12,620 before NI and Income tax is deducted.
How to claim P87
- Physical wellbeing
- Emotional and psychological health
- Personal values, such as self-confidence and resilience
- Attitudes to work, such as having a sense of purpose or job satisfaction
- Personal development at work
All of these can affect employee performance, and any might be the focus of measures to promote health and wellbeing at work.
Creating an employee wellbeing programme
While only around 8% of UK organisations have a dedicated ‘wellbeing strategy’ in places, more than half have at least one wellbeing benefit in place demonstrates that wellbeing is a common goal for HR departments.
Promoting emotional wellbeing
Why is emotional wellbeing above physical? Because the most commonly offered wellbeing benefits are access to counselling and employee assistance programmes (CIPD 2015). It’s hardly surprising, given the rise in stress-related absence in recent years.
Other initiatives for improving employees’ emotional and psychological wellbeing can include:
- Training in relaxation techniques, conflict resolution, anger management, or work-life balance
- Corporate social responsibility activities such as community projects or volunteering
My Staff Shop Promotes Physical Wellbeing
Physical health is still important too. Initiatives and benefits you can reduce prices on to promote physical wellbeing include:
- Exercise programmes such as outdoor activities, kit for team sports, exercise groups or gym memberships
- Offering health benefits such as private healthcare
Wellbeing through personal and career development
When employee wellbeing is linked to job performance, it can also be boosted by improving job satisfaction and attitudes to work. My staff shop’s platform assist initiatives to enhance:- Career development through training, mentoring, coaching, or promotion opportunities
- Personal development through activities to promote traits such as resilience, respect, team working, and assertiveness
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My Staff Shop has all the tools to enable you to implement you company’s health & wellbeing vision.