15 October 2024
How much can you claim for washing your uniform?
Do you need to wear a uniform for work? You may be entitled to a tax rebate for the cost of cleaning and maintaining your workwear.
This workwear tax rebate specifically applies to employees who must wear branded uniforms or specialist clothing (such as healthcare uniforms and emergency response workwear) for their job. This tax relief doesn’t apply to PPE (personal protective equipment), as your employer is always responsible for buying and maintaining PPE (click here to learn more).
Keep reading to find out how much you could claim and how to get your workwear tax rebate.
how much can you claim for washing your uniform?
Do you need to wear a uniform for work? You may be entitled to a tax rebate for the cost of cleaning and maintaining your workwear.
This workwear tax rebate specifically applies to employees who must wear branded uniforms or specialist clothing (such as healthcare uniforms and emergency response workwear) for their job. This tax relief doesn’t apply to PPE (personal protective equipment), as your employer is always responsible for buying and maintaining PPE.
Keep reading to find out how much you could claim and how to get your workwear tax rebate.
who is eligible for tax relief for washing their uniform?
Not all workers are eligible for the workwear laundry tax rebate. To see whether you can make a claim, check if you fulfil the following criteria:
- You paid income tax in the tax year you’re claiming for.
- You are required to wear a uniform or specialist workwear for your job – the clothing must be clearly recognised as workwear by the average person and could not be worn as everyday clothing (e.g., a branded company shirt would count, but a plain white shirt would not – even if you’re required to wear a specific style or colour scheme).
- Wearing this uniform is compulsory (even if this is for just one day in the tax year).
- Your employer doesn’t provide free laundry services. If they do provide these services but you choose not to use them, you can’t claim tax relief for the cost of washing your workwear.
- Your employer doesn’t give you an allowance for washing and maintaining your workwear.
who isn’t eligible for this workwear tax rebate?
Before you spend time on filling out a claim, make sure you’re actually eligible for the workwear tax rebate. You aren’t eligible if any of the following criteria apply to you:
- You didn’t pay tax in the year you’re claiming for.
- You’re required to wear smart office clothing like suits and trousers – these types of clothing could be worn outside of work, so they’re not covered by workwear tax relief. Only branded uniforms and specialist workwear (like police, healthcare, ambulance workwear, etc.) count.
- You’re required to wear PPE (such as welding protection clothing, high-visibility garments, arc flash protective workwear, etc.) – your employer should provide and maintain protective workwear free of charge.
- You’re a member of the armed forces – uniform maintenance costs should be accounted for in your tax code.
- Your employer provides free laundry services, even if you choose not to use them.
How much tax relief can I claim for washing my uniform?
As explained earlier, most workers who are eligible for workwear tax relief will be claiming on the flat-rate workwear maintenance expense allowance of £60. This means that basic rate taxpayers can claim back £12 and higher rate taxpayers can claim £24.
However, to account for specialist maintenance requirements or greater wear and tear in some industries, you may be entitled to a larger workwear tax rebate depending on your job. For example, ambulance staff have a yearly expense allowance of £185, which means basic rate taxpayers can claim £37 and higher rate taxpayers can claim £74. Other healthcare workers like nurses and care workers can claim on a £125 allowance, potentially getting back £25 or £50. Pilots and co-pilots can claim a whopping £1,022 allowance, which means they could get £204.40 or £408.80 each tax year.
To check whether you’ll be using the standard £60 workwear tax allowance or an industry-specific allowance, make sure you visit the government website, where you can find a list of flat-rate expenses for different sectors.
what if I’ve spent more?
If you think your assigned allowance doesn’t cover your actual workwear maintenance costs, you can make a claim based on your actual expenses as long as you have the relevant receipts. You would also need to make your claim by post instead of online. When filing a claim by post, you’ll need to fill in a form for each year you’re claiming for (more on this below).
can I backdate my tax relief claim?
The good news is that if you’ve missed out on this rebate for the past few years, you can backdate your claim to cover the previous four tax years – this means you can potentially claim for five tax years in total (current tax year plus four previous tax years).
If you’re claiming for previous years, you can expect to receive a tax refund from HMRC. For current and future tax years, HMRC will adjust your tax code to take this tax relief into account. This means you’ll see a slight increase in your take-home pay.
Your tax code should remain correct in future tax years if you stay in the same job, but if it doesn’t, you can phone HMRC to fix this issue instead of going through the claim process again.
how to claim the workwear tax rebate
To claim tax relief for washing your uniform, you need to fill out a P87 form online or print it out and send it to HMRC by post. This form also covers other kinds of expenses such as company cars and work tools, so you can claim for these at the same time (or simply leave these sections if you only need the workwear laundry tax rebate).
If you’re self-employed, the rules are slightly different. You likely won’t be eligible for workwear maintenance tax relief since you won’t have an employer, but if you are eligible, you can claim workwear tax relief via your Self Assessment tax return.
To learn more about the rules surrounding workwear tax rebates and the claims process, make sure you read our comprehensive guide on how to claim workwear tax relief.
If you’re looking for new workwear, specialist uniforms, or protective workwear/PPE, visit the alsico website for high-quality work clothing that will stand the test of time – even in the most demanding and harsh environments. Contact us today for more information.
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Protection is weaved into every part of alsico, we build it into everything we do and it drives our every decision. Our protective workwear range covers all high-safety sectors.
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We are one of the largest healthcare uniform suppliers in the UK, and are the majority supplier for the new NHS National Healthcare Uniform project.
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At alsico, we have shown excellence in a wide range of work uniforms, ranging from warehousing to global travel companies and from transportation to construction.
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Our passion for creating innovative fabrics has positioned us as a key supplier in the exciting new sector of electrical safety clothing, from battery companies to aerospace, to all anti-static environments.
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We are always honored to be asked to provide workwear for our emergency services teams. We put our trust in them to help to look after us, and we do our very best in return, delivering performance when it matters.
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