The Benefits and Allowances You Could Be Entitled To For Wearing a Uniform
Reviewed by Armed Forces Liaison Officer, Rebecca Davies
Reviewed by Rebecca Davies
As RIFT's Armed Forces Liaison Officer, Becks has spent the past seven months dedicated to supporting military personnel in understanding and reclaiming overpaid tax. With a passion for raising awa...
Read More about Rebecca DaviesUniform tax rebates (sometimes called uniform benefits or HMRC uniform allowances) are a special kind of tax relief for people who have to clean, repair or replace specialist work clothing. There are specific rules about who qualifies for it and what counts as a "uniform", but they're not always clear. As a result, a lot of people are missing out on years' worth of tax rebates totalling hundreds of pounds or more.
In order to get a uniform tax rebate, you've got to:
- Wear specialised clothing for work. It doesn't necessarily have to be overalls or a suit, but it does have to be a necessary part of your job. Wearing a chicken costume when you're a performer in an amusement park would probably qualify. Wearing one when you're an accountant might not.
- Pay for the laundry or upkeep yourself. If the money isn't coming out of your own pocket, you can't claim back tax on it.
- Pay Income Tax. Again, this is just common sense. You can't claim back tax you aren't paying in the first place.
One of the ways of doing this is with a ‘flat rate expense’ of £60 per year where HMRC changes your tax code to 1263L. This adds £60 to your tax-free Personal Allowance.
Read our complete guide to claiming uniform tax refunds.
If your uniform costs are higher than this, or you have more expenses to claim, get in touch with RIFT to handle your entire tax refund.
Free tax refund checker: Our tax rebate calculator will give you an instant estimate of how much tax you could be owed back from HMRC
What counts as a uniform for claiming tax rebates?
The question of what counts as a uniform trips a lot of people up. You can't simply claim for whatever clothes you wear for work. Your clothing needs to be identifiably a necessity of your job to count. For instance, a normal suit won't usually qualify for tax relief, even if your employer insists you wear it. A jumper with a company logo, however, would entitle you to tax relief (unless it's a detachable badge or something similar).
You can't necessarily claim for cleaning your clothes just because they were given to you by your employer, either. If your "uniform" is something you could reasonably wear outside of work, you can't expect any cash back from HMRC.
There are obviously some difficult grey areas here - and we're not just talking about dirty collars. A lot of people either end up not claiming what they should, or getting stern looks from the taxman for claiming too much. If you're not sure whether your work clothes count as a uniform, get some professional advice to find out exactly where you stand.
If you make the same flat rate uniform claim every year HMRC will change your tax code to 1263L. This adds £60 to your tax-free Personal Allowance so you don't have to manually claim each year. If your costs are higher than this, or you have more expenses to claim, get in touch with RIFT.
Read our complete guide to claiming uniform tax refunds.
What's a uniform tax rebate worth?
Your uniform tax rebate depends on the work you do and the tax band you're in. As a basic rule, HMRC estimates that it costs most people £60 per year to maintain their work clothes. At the basic rate of tax, that means you're entitled to £12 (20% of £60) back from HMRC.
That's not where the story ends, though. Higher rate taxpayers get their 40% tax back (£24), while different industries sometimes have different allowances. The list of jobs with their own rules is pretty huge, but tends to focus on industries with particular clothing requirements. Fire services, the NHS, certain engineering and construction jobs and many others have allowances higher than £60. You can find the full, up-to-date list here.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the government’s figures won’t necessarily match what you’re actually spending each year. If your costs are higher than their estimates, then you’ll need to show some proof (receipts, etc.) to get back the full amount you’re owed.
Read our complete guide to claiming uniform tax refunds.
When can I make a claim?
You’ll normally make your tax refund claim after the end of the tax year. Tax years run from the 6th of April in one calendar year to the 5th of April in the next. By the end of the tax year, you should have enough all the information you need to make a full tax refund claim.
Don’t worry too much if you’ve missed out on your uniform tax rebates from previous years. You can claim back the overpaid tax you’re owed from up to 4 years back.
After 4 years you'll lose it! Did you know you can claim tax back for the last 4 tax years? Time is almost up on your 2021/2022 tax refund. Get it back before the new tax year comes on the 5th April 2026.
Start NowHow and when will I get the rebate?
When you claim a tax rebate from HMRC, you can choose how you want to get your money. The fastest way is usually to have your refund transferred directly into your bank account. If you prefer, though, you can ask HMRC to send you a cheque instead.
It usually takes HMRC about 8-10 weeks to process a typical tax refund claim. The wait can be longer at busier times of year, though, or if your claim’s complicated and they need to get more information from you.
Read our complete guide to tax refund time scales.
When can you use a use p87 form?
A P87 tax refund form is for employees who are taxed through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, and have work expenses to claim tax relief for. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do. If you’re paying from your own pocket for the essential costs of doing your job, you could be owed a tax refund. 2 out of every 3 UK workers miss out on the refunds HMRC owes them, mostly because they never even realise they can make a tax rebate claim.
When can't you use the P87 form?
If you’re not an employee, you won’t use a P87 form to claim back any overpaid tax HMRC owes you, because your income isn’t taxed through PAYE before you get it. That doesn’t mean you can’t get tax relief for your work expenses though. For self-employed people, for example, many of the basic, everyday costs of running their businesses can bring down their tax bills through the Self Assessment system.
One important thing to realise is that it’s possible to be an employee and self-employed at the same time. In that case, your tax situation can be a little more complicated, but you can still claim back some tax for the essential expenses of your PAYE job with a P87 form.
I'm in the Armed Forces. Does the uniform tax rebate apply to me?
Armed Forces uniform tax rebates are handled differently from most other professions. Generally speaking, your uniform maintenance costs are handled through your tax code. Basically, your tax-free Personal Allowance gets ratcheted up a few notches to make up for what you're shelling out.
Do specific work clothes count?
Specialised work clothing sometimes actually means things like safety gear. Keeping things like helmets, goggles or protective gloves in good order is obviously essential to your work. If you're paying for this yourself and not getting reimbursed by your employer, then you should qualify for tax relief. You still can't claim tax back against the initial cost of buying them, though.
Also, you may find that the clothes you wear to work may sometimes be different from those you wear at work. A PE teacher, for example, might show up in the morning in normal clothes. Actually doing the job, however, might mean changing into a sports kit later in the day. The kit is an essential part of the work, so would usually entitle the teacher to tax relief.
