Survey finds strong support for remote working hubs

More than 6 in 10 workers “love the idea” of remote working hubs and would be willing to use one of the Government’s new 242 Connected Hubs facilities, if there was one in their area. According to the latest Taxback.com Taxpayer Sentiment Survey.

The survey was conducted among 1,200+ taxpayers from Taxback.com’s customer database, with 55% of those surveyed considering working in the office to be more expensive than working from home, and 33% saying the costs are about the same.

Barry Cahill, Barry Cahill, Director of Taxback.com’s Employee Financial Wellbeing Service pointed out that, to date, the State has invested "more than €100 million" upgrading former banks, Garda stations and other disused buildings to convert them into remote working hubs. "The target is to have 400 hubs by 2025. There are currently 11 hubs in Westmeath and the surrounding area and the Government has launched a voucher scheme this summer to give people free access to these hubs as a sort of taster of what’s available" he said.

If our survey is anything to go by, the demand for these facilities could do well to drive an even greater supply – be it from Government or private bodies. Of those taxpayers who are familiar with the concept of remote work hubs – 63% said they “love the idea”, while just over a fifth (21%) would rather work from home, with the remainder (16%) preferring to work from the office” according to Barry Cahill.

The remote working hubs initiative recently announced by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, aims to support remote workers across the country by providing desk space in a range of repurposed buildings such as former convents, garda stations, and other unused buildings. These hubs will form part of a ‘Connected Hubs’ network, which are accessible through a mobile app.

Taxback.com feel that work hubs "could really come into their own in the wake of the pandemic as organizations in certain industries come to the realization that staff don’t always have to be on-site" says Barry Cahill, who adds that they would also be beneficial for regional development and could really deliver for local economies, "perhaps even feeding into addressing our rising property price issues."

The Taxback.com survey also questioned whether workers face more expenses in working from home or from the office, with more than half of respondents saying that working in the office is more costly than working from home. "

This stands to reason, as the expenses incurred going into the office every day can stack up pretty quickly – the cost of commuting is the obvious one, and probably the most significant, for most people, but there are also the costs of lunches, coffees, even work clothes adding to the bill. While far fewer people - 14% - felt that working from home was more financially demanding, there are no doubt still expenses incurred with a home office. For example, utility bills will be higher, particularly in the winter when the heating is on more” pointed out Mr. Cahill.

The tax experts say that whether you’re working from home partially or full-time, or are 100% office-based, there may well be tax reliefs available through which a refund could take the sting out of any associated work costs.

Working from home relief and Flat Rate Expenses are two reliefs that are widely available but, in the experience of Taxback.com, they are underutilised. "While neither will amount to huge sums of money, we would question - even if it’s a few hundred Euro – why would anyone leave that behind? Particularly when the process to claim is pretty straight forward" asks Barry Cahill.