What You Can (and Can't) Claim Under HMRC's Latest Guidelines: June 2026 Update

What You Can (and Can't) Claim Under HMRC's Latest Guidelines: June 2026 Update

Published June 2026 | ZippTax

HMRC has issued a wave of guidance updates this year, and several directly change what you can and can't claim — whether you're an employee, a self-employed sole trader, a landlord, or a business owner. Some reliefs that used to be routine have quietly disappeared, while new exemptions and clearer rules have opened up elsewhere. Here's ZippTax's plain-English breakdown of exactly where things stand as of June 2026.

❌ What You Can No Longer Claim

Working From Home Tax Relief (Ended 6 April 2026)

This is the big one. Since 6 April 2026, employees can no longer claim Income Tax relief from HMRC for additional household costs incurred when required to work from home. The old flat-rate claim of £6 a week — worth around £62 a year for basic-rate taxpayers and £124 for higher-rate taxpayers — has been scrapped going forward.

What this doesn't affect: if your employer directly reimburses your homeworking costs, those payments remain completely free of Income Tax and National Insurance. The change only removes the ability to claim relief yourself when you haven't been reimbursed.

Important — you can still backdate old claims: if you were eligible for homeworking relief in previous tax years and never claimed it, you can still submit a claim for up to the previous 4 tax years. Roughly 300,000 people currently claim this relief (down from nearly 3 million during the pandemic), so if you've genuinely been working from home unreimbursed, it's worth checking your last four years before the window narrows further.

The Overlap Relief Online Checker (Closed 1 June 2026)

HMRC's "Get your overlap relief figure" online tool closed on 1 June 2026. It was only ever built for the 2023–24 transition year and is now rarely needed. If you still need to work out an overlap relief figure, you'll need to check your own historic tax returns and calculations first, or use HMRC's standalone overlap relief calculator, which remains available. HMRC can still help directly if you genuinely can't locate the figures yourself.

✅ What's Changed to Your Advantage

Statutory Sick Pay — Now Available From Day One

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, changes effective from 6 April 2026 mean all eligible employees can now claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) regardless of income — a real shift from the previous earnings threshold. SSP is now paid from the very first full day of sickness absence rather than waiting until day four, and is paid at 80% of normal weekly earnings or the £123.25 flat weekly rate, whichever is lower. This means more lower-paid and short-term absences now qualify for support that wouldn't previously have been claimable.

New Tax-Free Exemptions for Employee Expenses

From 6 April 2026, new legislative exemptions mean certain reimbursed employee expenses — including accommodation, supplies, and services used in the course of employment duties — are now exempt from both Income Tax and National Insurance. If your employer reimburses you for these costs, you shouldn't need to report them as a taxable benefit.

Small Employers Can Now Reclaim More Statutory Pay

If you run a small business qualifying for Small Employers' Relief (broadly, businesses paying £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance), you can now reclaim 100% of most statutory payments you make to staff — plus an additional 9% compensation, following the small employers' rate increase to 9% from 6 April 2026. That means eligible small employers can reclaim 109% overall. The one exception: Statutory Sick Pay itself cannot be reclaimed. Larger employers can still reclaim 92% of statutory payments made.

⚠️ Claims That Now Come With Stricter Rules

Overpayment Relief Claims

Following reports that valid repayment claims were being rejected over minor paperwork issues, HMRC has clarified exactly what a valid overpayment relief claim must include. Your claim must be made in writing and must clearly state whether an appeal has or hasn't already been made about the same payment or assessment (explicitly using the word "appeal"), along with a signed declaration confirming the information is correct and complete. Crucially, that declaration must be signed by the taxpayer themselves — not by a tax agent on their behalf. Missing this formality is one of the most common reasons genuine claims get bounced back.

R&D Tax Relief Claims

HMRC has published new Guidelines for Compliance (GfC) aimed at reducing common mistakes in R&D tax relief claims. The guidance doesn't change the underlying law, but it clarifies HMRC's expectations around what counts as a genuine "advance in science or technology," who qualifies as a "competent professional" able to judge this, and what evidence HMRC expects to see. Companies still confusing general business innovation with the specific tax definition of R&D are the most likely to have claims challenged — so if you're claiming R&D relief, it's worth reviewing your evidence against this new guidance before you submit.

Pension Scheme VAT Recovery (Business Update)

For employers sponsoring a defined benefit or other funded occupational pension scheme, HMRC updated its VAT Input Tax Manual in June 2026 to clarify how VAT recovery works on pension administration and investment management costs. VAT can still be recovered — but only where your contracts, invoices, and payment routes properly support the claim. As with most VAT claims, recovery for past periods is generally capped at 4 years, so older arrangements relying on outdated paperwork could be quietly losing recoverable VAT every month.

A Reminder on HMRC Scams

With so much genuine guidance changing, it's also worth flagging that HMRC has updated its guidance on verifying genuine contact. If you receive an unexpected call, text, email, or letter claiming to be from HMRC — especially anything asking for bank details, login details, or payment — check it against HMRC's official examples of genuine contact before responding. HMRC may legitimately use more than one method to reach you (for example, a letter followed by a phone call), but scammers routinely exploit confusion around new tax rules like the ones above.

How ZippTax Keeps You Ahead of HMRC Changes

HMRC guidance shifts constantly, and the gap between "what used to be claimable" and "what's claimable now" is exactly where people miss out on money — or accidentally submit claims that get rejected on a technicality. ZippTax reviews your position against the very latest HMRC guidelines, checks whether you're owed a backdated claim before the window closes, and makes sure anything you do submit meets HMRC's current requirements the first time.

Not sure where you stand under the new rules? Get in touch with ZippTax today — we'll check exactly what you can and can't claim, and handle it for you.

This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Tax rules are complex and depend on individual circumstances — consult with a ZippTax adviser about your situation.