Uniform Tax FAQ

I wear a uniform for work, can I claim?

If your employer provides you with a uniform and you are expected to take care of it yourself, HMRC consider that there is a cost associated with this which you can tax relief. HMRC have a standard rate of £60 for this cost which you can claim tax relief on. The tax relief is usually 20% of the allowance, plus some interest for earlier years.

Certain trades have a higher amount which may result in a larger refund, using our system makes provision for identifying and claiming these extra reliefs.

Which trades have their own flat expense rate for employment costs.

The following industries have specific expense allowances that may be higher than the £60 a year:

Agriculture, Airlines, Aluminium, banks and Building societies, Brass and Copper, Building, Building Materials, Clothing, Constructional Engineering, Electrical and Electricity Supply, Trades ancilliary to engineering, Fire Service, healthcare staff in the NHS, private hospitals and nursing homes, Heating, Iron Mining, Iron and Steel, Leather, Police Force, Precious Metals, Printing, Prisons, Docks and Inland Waterways, Public Transport, Quarrying, Shipyards, textile and Textile Printing, Vehicles, Wood and Furniture.

What is a uniform for tax purposes

In order to claim for uniform cleaning expenses, you need to have something that could easily be identified as a uniform.
What this means is if you were out in public would they think that you were wearing a uniform or your own clothes?
In addition, if you wear branded clothes provided by your employer, with logos, the company name etc, this would also be a uniform. Many employers have these items, a plain polo shirt with a corporate logo on is classified as a uniform.
If you are required to wear protective clothing such as a high viz jacket or safety shoes you can claim for this regardless of whether it has a logo or not, as these items are for personal safety when doing your job.

What isn’t a uniform for tax purposes?

You can’t claim tax relief if you wear your own clothes to work of if your employer provides you with clothes which you could wear normally out of work.
In practical terms, this means if you are provided with a business suit or a color coded shirt without a company logo unless it has visible company logos or branding on the outside.
However a detachable badge isn’t sufficient to turn ordinary clothing into a uniform.

Is it possible I am already receiving this tax relief?

Some employers have engaged with the tax authorities to obtain these reliefs for certain employees however most have not.
It is your responsibility to request tax relief where it’s due.
If you request this tax relief and you are already receiving it, this is not defrauding the authorities, they will confirm this in writing.
If you use our service and this happens, we won’t charge you anything.

What records will I be asked to provide by my tax office after I have submitted my claim?

You shouldn’t need to provide any records or paperwork of our expenditure as the expense allowance is based on an agreed flat rate.
However sometimes HMRC do random security checks to ensure the safety of the taxpaper and you may be asked to send them information.

Will this refund be recovered against my employer?

No. the claim is made against your personal income tax code and it’s recovered directly from HMRC.
No claim will be made against your employer so you will not need to worry abut your employer finding out.

How quickly will I get my refund

Most claims are completed withing 12 weeks, however, this depends on the workload of your local tax office as certain times of the year are busier than others.
If you don;t receive correspondence from HMRC within 4 months we recommend you resubmit the forms and we can lodge a new claim with the tax office.

How will my refund be paid

We will send you a cheque for the tax you have overpaid in previous years, minus our claim fee.
As well as this, if you are successful, you will be able to earn a higher amount of money tax free in the current and future years.

I’ve received a letter from HMRC confirming my refund, how long will I have to wait for my cheque?

It can take up to 4 weeks following this letter for payment to reach us. You will receive a cheque from us within 3 weeks of us receiving payment from HMRC.

I’ve received several calculations from HMRC but only one cheque, should I be receiving more cheques?

Although HMRC may send you a tax breakdown for each tax year the total amount of the refund due to you will usually be the amount listed at the bottom of HMRCs most recent calculation. The reason for this is that each years calculation is carried forward into the next year. This is shown by the “C – Adjustments” section of the calculation.