Did you know you can claim a uniform tax rebate for the care and maintenance of your work attire. Learn how to claim a rebate with this blog post.
What is uniform tax?
When you maintain your work uniform, the labour and financial costs eat into the income you receive from your work. That doesn’t seem quite fair when you only own and care for the clothes because of your job.
With a uniform tax rebate, you can receive 20% or 40% of these costs back. Some professions, such as ambulance staff, can have as much as £185 refunded. If you have been wearing and caring for a uniform or attire that meets a dress code for multiple years, you may be entitled to £100s.
Am I entitled to a uniform tax rebate?
Your work clothes qualify as a uniform if your:
- Employer requires you to wear a uniform or adhere to a dress code during work hours or a business-related activity.
- Attire meets your employer’s defined dress code, is branded with the company’s name, or is a more recognisable uniform, such as a police uniform.
Depending on your industry, shoes, socks, tights, and protective clothing may be included.
You are entitled to a uniform tax refund if you are responsible for the care of the uniform. This means you launder and maintain the uniform. Maintenance includes sewing on buttons or mending tears.
If your employer provides the facilities, handles the washing and repair, or pays for these services, you do not qualify for the uniform tax refund.
It is also necessary that you paid income tax during the same year you wore and cared for the uniform.
If you are self-employed, you can claim uniform and laundry expenses on your self-assessment tax return.
How do I claim a tax rebate?
To claim the uniform tax rebate, visit direct.gov and fill out the P87 form. You can print it out and post it or submit the form online.
You can claim up to 5 years of uniform tax refunds, if you wore and cared for a uniform for those 5 years. If this applies to you, you will need to submit one form per year.
To complete the form, you will need to provide the following information:
- Employer’s name and address
- Occupation, job title, and industry sector
- National Insurance Number
- PAYE reference
- Preferred payment method: bank deposit or cheque
- Receipts for costs
After your claim has been processed, you will be notified by letter how much refund you are entitled to and when you will receive the money.
Processing the claim may take up to 5 weeks.
Your tax code should change after your first uniform tax rebate so you don’t have to manually file each year in the future.