Do you wear a uniform as part of your job? If so, you may be eligible for a uniform tax rebate. This can involve the overall upkeep of your uniform, including repairing and washing it. Our guide will show you how to claim a uniform tax rebate yourself, it’s relatively straightforward once you know how!
The rules are very specific on who can apply, so it’s important first to make sure you are eligible. The process of claiming a tax uniform rebate is quite simple once you’ve established if you are eligible.
With that in mind, we’ve done our best to simplify the information and break it down into small, digestible pieces of useful advice. The UK tax system can be confusing, but this part of it is relatively straightforward and easy to sort out.
Already know you are eligible for a uniform tax rebate? You can jump right to our guide on how to claim a uniform tax rebate yourself here.
Eligibility For Uniform Tax Rebate
There are strict rules about eligibility to claim a rebate but our guide will help you find out if you are entitled to a uniform tax refund.
You are eligible if you meet all of the following criteria:
- As part of your job, you must be required by your employer to wear a recognisable uniform. To claim uniform tax relief, the clothing you wear should make it obvious what your job role is. For example, nurses, doctors, fire officers, and clothing with company logo.
- Your employer requires you to wear your uniform, and pay for it yourself. If you must wear a uniform or protective clothing as part of your job description and these expenses come out of your own pocket, then you may be able to register for tax relief.
- You are also responsible for the cleaning of your work clothing. You must also pay for the laundering yourself and it should not be something offered by your employer. This is still the case, even if you don’t use the service.
- You paid income tax for the year you are claiming for. It goes without saying that if you didn’t pay tax, you can’t claim a rebate on it.
See Also: Care Worker Tax Rebate – for information on additional work related clothing items eligible for healthcare employees to claim tax relief.
What is not Covered by the Rebate
There are large groups of people who are not eligible for the uniform tax refund. This includes the army and the self-employed.
The army already has this covered for its staff through their tax code. Self-employed workers should claim their uniform expenses when filling out their self assessment tax returns.
You should only claim tax relief for your uniform if you are in charge of cleaning it – if the employer offers this then you should not claim. It’s worth noting at this point that you can’t claim for the initial purchase of these clothes.
However, you can claim a tax rebate for purchase of work tools if you’ve had to buy them as part of your employment.
If your job is based from a home office, you can also claim a tax rebate for working from home in some circumstances.
How Much is the Tax Refund on Work Uniform?
How much you can claim back on the tax refund on your work uniform will depend on whether you pay the basic tax rate or if you are paying the higher rate threshold.
The tax allowance for work uniform is applied at a flat rate. This is £60, you are then eligible for a rebate of the tax you would have paid on this sum.
The refund you can claim is as follows:-
- Basic Tax Rate Payers – £12
- Higher Rate Tax Payers – £24
If you are on the basic tax rate, then you can claim the flat rate of £60. This means you can offset 20% so can effectively claim back £12. If you pay the higher tax threshold then you can claim back £24.
Backdating your claim:-
If you are eligible for the uniform tax rebate you can backdate your claim for up to 4 tax years. However, the last 4 tax years covers 5 years. This means a basic rate taxpayer could claim as follows if they have met the criteria for work uniform above every year:
- 2022 – 23 – £12
- 2021 – 22 – £12
- 2020 – 21 – £12
- 2019 – 20 – £12
- 2018 – 19 – £12
- 2017 – 18 – £12
Total rebate due for basic rate taxpayers: £60
Total rebate due for higher rate taxpayers: £120
Some Occupations Can Claim a Higher Rebate
The amount you can claim on your uniform tax refund can vary depending on the industry you work in. Some of the occupations that can claim a higher rebate include:
- Nurses & midwifes – have a standard annual allowance of £125 but can claim additional rebate for hosiery and shoes. This is a minimum rebate of £25 for lower rate tax payers and £50 for higher rate.
- Firefighters – are entitled to an allowance of £80. This is a £16 rebate for basic rate tax payers and £32 for higher rate.
- Dental nurses – are entitled to an allowance of £125. This is a £25 rebate for basic rate tax payers and £50 for higher rate.
There are many other occupations which are entitled to claim a uniform tax refund at different rates. You can check the occupations list and see the entitlements on the UK Gov site.
How to Claim Uniform Tax Rebate Yourself
Firstly, do not use any online tax rebate services. They take a cut of your tax refund, and it appears some have hidden clauses in the T’s and C’s which allow them control of more than customers realised.
Reports suggest that people who have signed up for some services have unwittingly signed away up to 50% of any refunds due to them, as well as backdated rebates for up to the previous 4 years.
Even more alarmingly, there are also reports that consumers are signing deeds of assignment which give companies the right to all of their tax rebates without realising. This means the company can take a large share of a tax rebate they did not work to recover.
Read more:
- UK Taxpayers Warned Over High Charges from Rebate Firms – see reports of misleading activities.
- PPI Firm Has Taken Control of my Neighbours Tax Affairs – how one woman filled in a PPI form and had her tax rebate taken from her, after it turned out the PPI form gave control of her tax rebates to the company.
It’s Easy to Claim a Rebate Yourself, You Don’t Need a Claims Firm
First steps depend on whether you’ve claimed a uniform tax rebate in the past:
First time Claiming or Claiming on a Spend of More than £2,500?
If you’re not sure, you can use the HMRC tool to check if you can claim a uniform tax rebate.
After that if you are eligible, you’ll need to claim using form p87 which you can fill out online, or print out and send via post. When you submit a postal claim, you need a separate form for each tax year you’re claiming on.
The form will guide you through the process, asking you for details such as your work address, occupation, NI number, and PAYE reference.
It really is very straightforward, and will help you protect your financial data. It could be used for fraudulent purposes if you encounter a fake website, as well as giving less scrupulous companies more control of your tax affairs than you intended.
See also: UK Gov P87 Form tax rebate advice.
If You Have Claimed Before
You should be able to claim again with a quick phone call to HMRC. Usually, if you’ve claimed in previous years your tax code will already have been adjusted. That means you won’t have to go through the claims process again.
If in any doubt, give HMRC a call to confirm. Call: 0300 2003300.
How is the Rebate Paid Out?
You’ve made the claim but how is the rebate paid out? Once you’ve made your claim, you can expect to receive anything you are owed within 12 weeks.
If on top of the uniform tax rebate, you’ve also claimed for small tools and equipment then the process can take a little longer. HMRC will pay the amount into your bank account once it’s been processed and verified.
If your claim only relates to the current tax year, you will be paid via payroll and your tax code will be adjusted. For backdated claims, you will get a cheque from HMRC.
The process to claim uniform tax rebate yourself could not be more straightforward. Follow the steps above and save yourself a hefty fee.
You don’t need someone else to claim for you, and the payout will be much higher. You’ll also save yourself from potential problems if you encounter a less scrupulous service which helps itself to a share of a tax rebate you would have got anyway.