Readers’ forum: Extra expenses

I was interested to read the article ‘Working from home’ (see Taxation 2 April 2020 page 18) and the news that the homeworking allowance payable by employers had been increased from £4 to £6 a week. I have heard a couple of mentions elsewhere that if an employer is refusing to pay this an employee can claim an equivalent amount against their earnings. However I have been unable to find official confirmation of this. Can readers enlighten me and how can such a claim be made easily?

Also several employee clients have asked whether the cost of buying a laptop to enable them to continue working from home would be allowable. Apparently they use desktop machines at work and were unable to bring these home. The employers seem reluctant to pay and I’m not sure whether these...