Claim back Tax on your workwear A guide to claiming back Tax if you are a wearer of workwear. If you have to wear a uniform for work, and are a UK tax payer, you are entitled to claim a flat rate deduction from the HM Revenue and Customs for the annual cleaning, repair and replacement of your workwear, even if the garments were supplied to you by your employer. Some workers are entitled to a rebate worth £185 a year or more against their tax liability. If you have never claimed for this deduction before, you can claim up to 4 years back payment of the allowance, if it has not already been calculated by your employer. Many employees know about the allowance, but do not take the action necessary to ensure that the deductions are included in your pay. But the good news is that it’s easy to claim the allowance yourself - and once claimed, you will continue to benefit from further deductions in the future, directly through your pay.
What constitutes a ‘Uniform’? Any garment that is instantly recognised as a uniform or workwear by the average person in the street is classed as a ‘uniform’ by the HMRC. The obvious examples are nursing tunics and dresses, medical garments, ambulance and emergency wear, catering and chefwear, specialist manufacturing, construction and engineering garments. However - this is just a tiny percentage of the occupations that the HMRC recognises as being entitled to claim this deduction. At the back of this leaflet is a list of the occupations listed by the HMRC and the amounts you are able to claim against tax each year. Check whether your occupation is on this list. Even if your occupation is not listed, but you wear any specialist workwear garments that are provided by your employer for your work; or wear garments that display a permanently printed or embroidered brand name or company logo, it is classed as a uniform and you are entitled to claim at least £60 per year against your tax deductions for up to 4 years back from the current tax year.
Who can’t claim? • You can’t claim - If your employer already supplies you with an annual allowance to wash your workwear at home. • You can’t claim - If your employer provides you with a laundry service - or even laundry facilities (such as a washing machine and powder) even if you don’t make use of it. • You can’t claim - on the initial cost of the garments. • You can’t claim - if you are not a UK tax payer. • You can’t claim - if the garments you wear for work are not classed as a uniform i.e. they are not recognised as special workwear or don’t display permanent branding on the garment.
Additional rebates for healthcare workers In addition to the rebate for cleaning, repair and replacement of their work uniform, healthcare workers are also able to claim specifically for the purchase of non-slip shoes (£12 per year) and for socks or tights for work (£6 per year). Claim using the same P87 Claim Form, that is available to download from the HMRC website.
What to do next? Fill out a claim form on the HMRC website Fill in a claim form here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-tax-relief-for-expenses-of-employment-p87 or phone the HMRC helpline 0300 200 3300 and ask them to send you a P87 Claim Form. If you have worked for different employers over the previous 4 years (but have still worn a recognised uniform at work) you will need to ask for a form for each period of employment).
What you will need to provide: • Employers name and address and the dates of your employment. • Your occupation, job title and the sector you work in. • Your personal address details including your National Insurance Code and your PAYE reference (if in doubt ask your wages or HR department.
What happens next? The HMRC will send you a letter advising you how much you are entitled to and details of when and how you will receive your rebate. After this you don’t need to do anything further as your tax code will be adjusted for future years.
If you are an employer As an employer who supplies uniforms or special workwear or equipment to your staff, you are entitled to claim a reduction against tax and National Insurance Contributions for the garments and equipment supplied to staff. Check the list of entitled occupations at the back of this leaflet. You will need to satisfy the HMRC that the garments are required by the role or that they permanently display your company branding, even if only in the form of a discreet label sewn into a seam or a small embroidered logo. Request a copy of form P11D from the HMRC or contact your local tax office for guidance.
NOTE: All advice contained in this guide is given in good faith from latest available information. If you require further detailed clarification of the deductions that you may be able to claim for, please seek expert direction from your accountant or the HMRC.
HMRC list of fixed rate expenses allowable against Tax Deductions from 2008/9 onwards
Industry sector
Occupation
Agriculture
All workers.
Airlines
a. Pilots and co-pilots
see EIM50050
b. Cabin Crew
see EIM50070
a. Continual casting operators, process operators, de-dimplers, driers, drill punchers, dross unloaders, firemen, furnace operators and their helpers, leaders, mould-men, pourers, remelt department labourers and roll flatteners. Aluminium
b. Cable hands, case makers, labourers, mates, truck drivers and measurers and storekeepers. c. Apprentices. d. All other workers.
£100
£140 £80 £60 £120
Armed forces
All members
Banks and Building Societies
Uniformed doormen and messengers.
Brass and Copper
Braziers, coppersmiths, finishers, fitters, moulders, turners and all other workers.
£120
a. Joiners and carpenters.
£140
Building
Building Materials
Clothing
b. Cement works, roofing felt and asphalt labourers. c. Labourers and navvies.
Constructional Engineering
£80 £60
a. Stone masons.
£120
b. Tilemakers and labourers.
£60
c. All other workers.
£80
a. Lacemakers, hosiery bleachers, dyers, scourers and knitters, knitwear bleachers and dyers.
£60
b. All other workers.
£60
b. Banksmen, labourers, shop-helpers, slewers and straighteners.
d. All other workers. a. Those workers incurring laundry costs only.
£140 £80 £60 £100 £60
b. All other workers.
£120
a. Pattern makers.
£140
b. Labourers, supervisory and unskilled workers. Trades ancillary to engneering
£60
£120
c. Apprentices and storekeepers.
Electrical and Electricity Supply
See EIM50125
d. All other workers.
a. Blacksmiths and their strikers, burners, caulkers, chippers, drillers, erectors, fitters, holders up, markers off, platers, riggers, riveters, rivet heaters, scaffolders, sheeters, template workers, turners and welders.
c. Apprentices and storekeepers.
£80 £60
d. Motor mechanics in garage repair shop.
£120
e. All other workers.
£120
Fire Service
Uniformed fire fighters and fire officers.
Food
All workers.
£60
Forestry
All workers.
£100
Glass
All workers.
£80
Healthcare staff in NHS or private hospitals and nursing homes
Heating
Iron Mining
£185
b. Nurses, midwives, chiropodists, dental nurses, occupational, speech, physiotherapists and other therapists, healthcare assistants, phlebotomists and radiographers. See guidance at EIM67200 for shoes and stockings/tights allowance.
£125
c. Plaster room orderlies, hospital porters, ward clerks, sterile supply workers, hospital domestics and hospital catering staff.
£125
d. Laboratory staff, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants.
£80
e. Uniformed ancillary staff: maintenance workers, grounds staff, drivers, parking attendants and security guards, receptionists and other uniformed staff.
£80
a. Pipe fitters and plumbers.
£120
b. Coverers, laggers, domestic glaziers, heating engineers and all their mates.
£120
c. All gas workers and all other workers.
£100
a. Fillers, miners and underground workers.
£120
b. All other workers.
£100
b. Apprentices. c. All other workers.
Leather
a. Curriers (wet workers), fellmongering workers and tanning operatives (wet). b. All other workers.
Particular Engineering
£80
a. Ambulance staff on active service
a. Day labourers, general labourers, stockmen, timekeepers, warehouse staff and weighmen. Iron and Steel
Deductions from 6 April 2014 onwards
£80 £60 £140 £80 £60
a. Pattern makers.
£140
b. Chainmakers; cleaners, galvanisers, tinners and wire drawers in the wire drawing industry and toolmakers in the lock making industry.
£120
c. Apprentices and storekeepers.
£60
d. All other workers.
£80
continued over...
Industry sector Police Force Precious Metals
Printing
Occupation
Deductions from 2008/9 onwards
Deductions from 6 April 2014 onwards
Police officers (ranks up to and including Chief Inspector).
£140
Community support officers, and other police employees.
see EIM68130
All workers.
£100
a. Letterpress Section-electrical engineers (rotary presses), electrotypers, ink and roller makers, machine minders (rotary), maintenance engineers (rotary presses) and stereotypers.
£140
b. Bench hands (periodical and bookbinding section), compositors (letterpress section), readers (letterpress section) telecommunications and electronic section wire room operators, warehousemen (paper box making section).
£60
c. All other workers.
£100
Prisons
Uniformed prison officers.
£80
Public Service: Docks and Inland Waterways
a. Dockers, dredger drivers and hopper steerers.
£80
b. All other workers.
£60
a. Garage hands including cleaners.
£80
Public Service: Public Transport
b. Conductors and drivers.
Quarrying
All workers.
£100
Railways
See the appropriate category for craftsmen (for example engineers, vehicles, etc.) All other workers.
£100
Seamen
Carpenters. a. Passenger liners.
£165
b. Cargo vessels, tankers, coasters and ferries.
£140
a. Blacksmiths and their strikers, boilermakers, burners, carpenters, caulkers, drillers, furnacemen (platers) holders up, fitters, platers, plumbers, riveters, sheet iron workers, shipwrights, tubers and welders.
£140
Shipyards
£60
b. Labourers.
£80
c. Apprentices and storekeepers.
Textiles and Textile Printing
£60
d. All other workers.
£100
a. Carders, carding engineers, overlookers and technicians in spinning mills.
£120
b. All other workers.
£80
a. Builders, railway vehicle repairers and railway wagon lifters. Vehicles
£140
b. Railway vehicle painters, letterers, and builders’ and repairers’ assistants.
£80
c. All other workers. Wood and Furniture
£60
a. Carpenters, cabinetmakers, joiners, wood carvers and woodcutting machinists.
£140
b. Artificial limb makers (other than in wood), organ builders and packaging case makers.
£120
c. Coopers not providing their own tools, labourers, polishers and upholsterers.
£60
d. All other workers.
£100
NOTES: In the entry relating to aluminium, “firemen” means persons engaged to light and maintain furnaces; “constructional engineering” means engineering undertaken on a construction site, including buildings, shipyards, bridges, roads and other similar operations. “particular engineering” means engineering undertaken on a commercial basis in a factory or workshop for the purposes of producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks.
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