The FA Cup finals are about to kick off, and Manchester United’s shootout loss to Fulham in the 5th round means we already know there’ll be a new name on the trophy this time.

While the best in the game are busy lacing their boots, now’s the time to earn like elite playmaker Kevin De Bruyne – at least for a few minutes. Claiming back the tax refunds you’re owed for your work travel, meals and more is the ideal winning strategy, so make sure you’re keeping score of what you’re spending.

Earn like De Bruyne


With yearly earnings hitting £20.8 million, Kevin De Bruyne’s time is worth real money. He’s bringing in a weekly £400,000 – which is like getting 10 grand an hour for a 40-hour week. There’s no way you could ever match that, right?


Well, let’s tackle the numbers head-on. An average 4-year tax refund with RIFT can net you £3,000 – all for just a few minutes of your time spent getting your records straight. If it takes you 20 minutes or so to sort the paperwork, you’ve just out-scored the top earner in the game!

We can’t all have the salaries of a world-class professional footballer, but with £3,000 to play for there’s no reason to miss your shot.


Staying Match-Fit with RIFT


A professional footballer burns a lot of calories on the pitch. We’re talking about 5-7 miles of running over a 90-minute game, all while pushing your heart rate to 85% of its maximum. All told, an average top-level player burns through up to 4,000 calories a day.

Here’s what a typical Premier-League player’s daily diet looks like, according to chef-to-the-stars Diogo Prego:

  • Sourdough toast, avocado, scrambled eggs and roasted cherry tomatoes.
  • Pappardelle with chicken and ricotta cheese.
  • Seabass with white beans, spinach and tomatoes.
  • Porridge cookies with honey.
  • Kefir fermented milk smoothie with banana, raspberries and maca root.

While you’re adding up those calories, you need to be counting the costs as well. When you’re grabbing food on the go at work, you’re bulking up the tax refund you’ll be owed. Those little daily food expenses might not seem like much when they’re trickling out at £5 a pop, but they can easily stack up to over a thousand pounds across the year. It’d be an own goal to miss out.

Just remember that the taxman will cry foul if you don’t keep good records of what your work meals are costing you. Always get receipts!

Going the Distance for your Refund


Football clubs (and their supporters) put in a lot of mileage over a season, and those miles cost money. Manchester City, for example, travels an average of 2,471 miles each season, with West Bromwich Albion going even further at a whopping 3,290 miles.


So how does your work travel stack up to the Premier League? Pretty well, as it turns out. An average RIFT customer clocks up about 1,400 miles of work travel per month. That’s almost 17,000 miles a year – and every one of them is worth money!


Again, the key to getting the best out of your tax refund is keeping track of your expenses and mileage. Every journey you make for work could be putting cash in your pocket at the end of the tax year. In fact, work travel accounts for 80% of an average tax refund payout.


From your Kit to your Kitty


There’s real money in soccer kit. Just ask any fan who’s paid £100 or more for a replica shirt. When you’re a professional football player, there’s no choice about it. You’ve got to wear your team’s gear – and the same goes for a lot of UK workers in their own jobs. The difference is in who’s paying for it.


If you need specific clothing or gear for your job, and you’re paying from your own pocket for cleaning and maintaining it, you’re owed some tax back from HMRC. From uniforms and safety vests to work boots and hard hats, it costs you cash to keep your kit up to scratch. That’s why equipment and clothing costs can be an important part of your tax refund claim. Again, they may not seem like big expenses at the time. If you keep good track of the costs, though, your refunds can stack up fast.


How to Claim your Refund


Don’t drop the ball when it’s time to apply for your tax refund. It only takes a couple of minutes to kick off your claim, and with average payouts of £3,000 it could be worth a little of even Kevin De Bruyne’s expensive time.


Check for free if you’re owed some tax back, and use our tax calculator to see what kind of refund you could score with RIFT.