6 September 2024

How to claim workwear tax relief

If you have to wear a specific uniform or specialist wearer protection garments for work, you may be entitled to a workwear tax rebate. This applies to pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) employees and self-employed people filling out a Self Assessment tax return. But how much could you be entitled to, and how can you claim your tax refund?

In this article, we’ll explain what workwear tax relief is, who it applies to (and doesn’t apply to), how much you can claim, and how to make your official claim – without giving any money to scam rebate firms.

what is the workwear tax rebate?

Workers who must wear a uniform or other specialist clothing to do their jobs are entitled to claim tax relief on the cost of cleaning, repairing or replacing this clothing. When you claim this tax rebate, you get back the tax you would have paid on your workwear maintenance allowance. The standard flat-rate expense allowance for maintaining essential workwear is £60, but some occupations have different workwear allowances because of the types of specialist clothing they wear – we’ll discuss these allowances and possible claim amounts later in this article.

As well as applying to the current tax year, your claim can be backdated by up to four tax years, allowing you to claim tax relief for a total of five years if applicable. For claims affecting the current tax year, HMRC will change your current tax code to reduce your tax burden, meaning you’ll see a slight increase in your take-home pay. For claims affecting previous tax years, you’ll get a tax refund once HMRC has processed your claim.

who can claim a workwear tax refund?

You can claim workwear tax relief if:

You have to wear a uniform (e.g., nurse, police officer, paramedic) or other specialist clothing for your job, such as safety boots, coveralls, welding protection garments or high-visibility clothing.

You are required to wear this clothing, even if it’s just for one day within the tax year. You’ll still be eligible to claim workwear tax relief for the full tax year.
You’re responsible for cleaning, repairing and/or replacing your workwear.
You paid income tax in the year that you’re making a claim for. This rebate is only available for taxpayers.

The clothing that you’re claiming the tax relief for must be necessary for your job and not also used as everyday clothing. When deciding whether your clothing is eligible, consider if you could wear it outside of work. For example, uniforms related to a specific job (e.g., a police uniform) are clearly recognisable by the public and wouldn’t be worn outside of work, and the same applies to more typical clothing that’s clearly branded with a company logo (e.g., a shirt with a company name and logo). Specialist protective workwear, such as high-visibility attire, is also eligible because it would be necessary for your safety at work and would not be used outside of work as an everyday item.

who isn’t eligible?

You’re required to wear PPE. Your employer will be responsible for providing you with free PPE and maintaining it according to The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. If your employer asks you to buy your PPE, they must reimburse you.

Your employer provides a free laundering service for your workwear that you choose not to use. This means that you can’t claim tax relief for washing your workwear at your own expense.

Your employer pays for your workwear maintenance expenses.

You’re a member of the armed forces. The cost of maintaining your uniform will already be factored into your tax code, as your tax-free personal allowance will be raised to compensate for this expense.

You’re self-employed. You won’t claim this rebate through the same process, but you can claim workwear and maintenance expenses through your Self Assessment tax return. Just make sure you have the relevant evidence to support this.

You didn’t pay income tax in the tax year you’re claiming for. You can’t apply for tax relief if you didn’t pay tax.

You wear normal, everyday clothes to work. Even if you’re required to wear business attire or clothing in a specific design or colour, you can’t claim tax relief on clothes you could wear outside of work.

how much can you claim for workwear tax relief?

The amount you can claim will depend on your workwear cleaning tax allowance. As mentioned earlier, the standard flat-rate expense allowance for maintaining essential workwear is £60 per year, which means you can claim back the tax on this amount of money. You don’t need to calculate your actual expenses.

The basic tax rate is currently 20%, so if you’re on this rate, you can claim back 20% of £60 – which is £12. If you’re a higher-rate taxpayer, you can claim 40% of this workwear tax allowance, amounting to £24.

Your workwear tax allowance can change depending on your profession. This is because some workers have specialist uniforms, resulting in a higher annual expense allowance for maintaining them. For example, ambulance workers get a workwear allowance of £185, and the allowance for healthcare assistants and dental nurses is £125. Pilots and co-pilots get a staggering £1,022 allowance for their specialist workwear!

Before making your claim, check the allowance for your profession and use the current government guidance on tax bands to work out how much you can get. Remember that you can backdate your claim to cover the previous four tax years in addition to the current one – you could be entitled to a large workwear tax refund!

how to claim your workwear tax rebate as an employee

If you’re a PAYE employee and you fulfil the eligibility criteria for workwear tax relief, you need to fill in a P87 form to make your claim. You can either do this completely online or print off the form and send it by post to HMRC. If you’re claiming by post, you need to fill in a separate form for each year you’re claiming for.

This form also covers other types of expenses like travel expenses and hotel expenses. If these aren’t relevant to you, just skip them or type/write ‘No’ or ‘N/A’.

you’ll need the following information to fill out your P87 form:

Your personal details and contact details
Your occupation, job title and the industry you work in
Your employer's name and address
Your national insurance number
Your PAYE reference number
Whether you're claiming flat-rate expenses as described above (otherwise you’ll need to show evidence of costs)
How you want to be paid (e.g., into your bank account or by cheque)

how to claim your workwear tax rebate if you’re self-employed

So, how does this work if you’re self-employed? Self-employed people can also claim workwear tax relief on clothing they need to wear for their jobs, but the claims process is slightly different.

But first, you need to know which clothing is tax-deductible. As with PAYE employees, you can only claim tax relief on workwear if it’s necessary for your job and can’t be worn as everyday clothing. For example, if you’re a self-employed welder or construction worker, you would need to buy protective workwear and high-visibility clothing to keep yourself safe. Workwear like high-visibility clothing for construction workers can also act as a type of uniform, signalling to your customers that you are a professional in this industry. However, if you wanted to buy a business suit for a work conference, this wouldn’t be tax-deductible because this suit is a normal type of clothing that can be worn outside of work, such as for formal events in your personal life.

If your workwear is tax-deductible, you can claim tax relief on the cost of cleaning, repairing and replacing it, just like an employee would. However, instead of filling out a P87 form, you should include these tax-deductible expenses in your Self Assessment tax return. Make sure you keep relevant receipts so you can claim the right amounts.

avoiding scams

Unfortunately, there are many predatory rebate firms out there that will charge you money to handle the claims process for you. In some cases, these charges can actually leave you out of pocket, defeating the whole aim of claiming tax relief in the first place.

Remember that claiming a workwear tax rebate is a completely free process if you use the .gov.uk website and download the official forms. Filling in these forms should be relatively straightforward, and there’s plenty of free online guidance if you get stuck. There’s no need to make a claim via third-party reclaim sites, so protect your rebate by sticking to the official government resources.

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