Tesco stores across Liverpool to hold extra summer Food Collection for children and families

TESCO is to hold an extra UK wide Food Collection in its stores to support children and families this summer. During the collection, which will take place in large Tesco stores, from 15 to 17 July 2021 and in Express stores, from 12 July to 28 August 2021, customers will be urged to donate long life food to the Trussell Trust and FareShare to help them in their vital work to support families in communities across the UK. Tesco will once again be topping up all customer donations with a 20% cash donation to the 2 charities.

Tesco UK & Northern Ireland CEO Jason Tarry said:- "Both the Trussell Trust and FareShare face extra demands during the summer, when children who would normally enjoy a healthy meal in school may miss out. That is why we have decided to hold this extra collection to help ensure that children across the UK can enjoy a happier and healthier summer without missing out on meals."

Charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust have welcomed the announcement of the extra collection.

Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive at FareShare, said:- "At FareShare, the demand for food from the communities we serve remains very high and, with the combination of the Pandemic and many families struggling to afford to eat during the school holidays when free school meals are not available, we anticipate this will continue to be the case for many months. We are incredibly grateful to Tesco for running this additional summer food collection, which will ensure that we can continue supporting the thousands of charities feeding the most vulnerable children and families across the UK."

Emma Revie, Chief Executive of the Trussell Trust, added:- "No 1 should face the indignity of needing emergency food. Yet in the last year, food banks in our network provided record numbers of emergency food parcels to people struggling to afford the essentials. This is not right but we know we can build a better future. Thanks to the incredible ongoing generosity of Tesco, we are thrilled that customers will be able to support food banks during the Summer Food Collection. Every donation makes such a difference and helps food banks in our network provide the best possible emergency support while we work together towards building a hunger free future."

Additional details of the collection and how shoppers can support it will be released in the coming weeks. The summer collection is in addition to the annual pre-Christmas Tesco Food Collection.

Working from home? Customers may be eligible to claim tax relief in 2021/22

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is accepting tax relief claims for working from home due to Coronavirus during 2021/22. More than 550,000 employed workers have already claimed and are benefitting from the tax relief. If employed workers were told to work at home by their employer because of Coronavirus and, as a result, their household costs have increased, they are eligible to claim the working from home tax relief. It is quick and easy to claim via HMRC's online portal.  HMRC received more than 3 million claims for the tax relief for the 2020/21 tax year.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC's Director General for Customer Services, said:- "˝ a million people have already reduced their Income Tax this year by up to ₤125, by claiming tax relief on their working from home expenses. We want everyone who's eligible to benefit, so we've made it quick and easy to do online. Check if you're eligible and apply at GOV.UK by searching:- 'working from home tax relief.' HMRC is continuing to help and support people affected by the Pandemic."

From 6 April 2020, the amount employers have been able to pay tax free without employees having to provide evidence of an increased bill is up to ₤6 a week. Employees who have not received the working from home expenses payment direct from their employer can apply to receive the tax relief from HMRC.

Eligible customers can claim tax relief based on the rate at which they pay tax. For example, if an employed worker pays the 20% basic rate of tax and claims tax relief on ₤6 a week, they would receive ₤1.20 a week in tax relief (20% of ₤6 a week) towards the cost of their household bills. Higher rate taxpayers would receive ₤2.40 a week (40% of ₤6 a week). Over the course of the year, this could mean customers can reduce the tax they pay by ₤62.40 or ₤124.80 respectively.

Taxpayers can check if they are eligible via:- GOV.UK.

To claim for tax relief for working from home, employees can apply directly via:- GOV.UK for free. Once their application has been approved, the online portal will adjust their tax code for the 2021/22 tax year. They will receive the tax relief directly through their salary until March 2022.

If employees were required to work from home last year, but did not claim for the tax relief, they have not missed out; HMRC will accept backdated claims for up to 4 years. They will receive a lump sum payment for any successful backdated claims.

Using an agent to apply for the working from home tax relief and other similar schemes could result in customers paying unnecessary fees or commission. Using the:- GOV.UK service is quick and free, and customers will receive 100% of the tax relief that is due. Agents will not be able to use the online portal to apply for the relief on a customer's behalf.