Benefits
Work phones, laptops and broadband: when they're tax-free
Last updated 16 October 2026
A phone, laptop or internet connection your employer provides for work isn't taxed if private use is incidental and you don't own it. When that changes.
Equipment your employer gives you to do your job is not normally a benefit in kind (a taxed perk). The test is whether it is there mainly for work, with any private use only incidental, and whether it stays your employer's property.
What is tax-free
| Item | Tax-free where |
|---|---|
| Laptop, computer, printer, scanner and accessories | Provided for business use, private use incidental, and you don't become the owner |
| Mobile phone or home phone line | Provided for business use and private use is minimal: no more than 5% of call costs |
| Home broadband | A dedicated connection for business use, with incidental private use |
| Desk, chair and other home-office equipment | Provided so you can work remotely, private use incidental, no transfer of ownership |
The home-office exemption is for people who work remotely under an arrangement with their employer, not for bringing work home in the evenings.
Your own phone
If you use your own phone for work, your employer can pay your bill tax-free where the phone is used mainly for work. Where use is mixed, it can pay a reasonable estimate of the business part tax-free. If you are on call outside normal hours, it can pay up to 50% of your line rental without tax.
When it becomes taxable
If equipment is provided mainly for your private use, it is a benefit. While your employer still owns it, the yearly benefit is 5% of its market value when first provided. If it is given to you to keep, the benefit is the higher of what it cost your employer and its market value. For an employee on €50,000 in 2026, a laptop that cost €2,000:
| Lent mainly for private use: 5% of its value | €100.00 |
| Tax on that each year | €47.55 |
| Given to you to keep: taxed on its cost | €2,000.00 |
| Tax on that, once | €944.89 |
A laptop or phone given to you to keep can instead be one of your tax-free small benefits. It must fit within the year's €1,500 limit.
Remote working allowance
Separately, an employer can pay up to €3.20 a day tax-free to cover heat, electricity and broadband on days you work from home. If it doesn't, you can claim relief on part of those bills yourself: see remote working relief.
Work it out
Sources
- Revenue: Taxable employer benefits (medical insurance, shares and others) (checked 16/10/2026)
- Revenue: How to calculate allowable remote working costs (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Small Benefit Exemption: up to five benefits worth €1,500 a year from 2025 (checked 16/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.