Are you missing out on claiming tax relief for expenses you have to pay for your job? There are plenty of flat rate expenses on offer to employees which you can claim for, and in this guide, we’re going to take you through everything you need to know. Let’s take a look at how to claim tax relief as an employee for your expenses – read on to find out more!
What are job expenses?
As an employee, your employer usually pays for everything you need. But what if they don’t? If you have to spend money on your own equipment to perform your job, you can make a claim for tax relief called flat rate or work-related expenses. Flat rate expenses is a term used to describe the standard flat rate you can claim for – or the actual cost – of the equipment you need.
Are you eligible?
OK, so HMRC have some basic rules in place to help employees determine whether or not they can make a claim. In short, there are two ways to identify whether or not you can claim tax relief.
First of all, you need to have used your personal money to buy things – such as protective equipment or small tools – to do your job. It is also important to remember that the rules state that you can only use this equipment for work – not for personal reasons.
Secondly, you won’t be able to claim tax relief if your employer pays you back for expenses. Also, you cannot claim for anything you use as an alternative. For example, if your employer has given you a hammer, you cannot claim for buying and using a different brand or type of hammer.
Finally, you must have already paid tax during the year that you are claiming. Your tax relief will be determined by the amount of money you have spent and your current tax rate. Let’s assume you are at the standard rate of 20% tax. If you buy a piece of equipment for £50, you can claim for 20% of the cost of that equipment – in this case, £10.
When can you claim?
As discussed above, you need to have paid tax already in the year you make a claim. However, you have four years to make a claim from the time you have spent the money. When you claim for the same year, HMRC will tend to give you your adjustments in your tax code so the money will be ‘paid’ back to you this way. For claims from the previous four years, however, HMRC will generally make an adjustment to your tax code, but they also might send you a tax return – you will need to fill it out and return it.
What are some examples of job expenses?
OK, so let’s imagine that you work for an employer who requires you to wear protective clothing to perform your role. While many companies will give you the relevant equipment, not all will – in some cases you may have to buy it yourself. It’s the same principal for uniforms, small tools, and specialist equipment – anything you have to buy to do your job.
Let’s say you are a building worker. Your employer might expect you to buy your own set of tools, and replace or repair them. You might also be required to clean, replace and repair the protective clothing you use – hard hats or hi-vis jackets, for example. And if you have to wear a set of specialised clothing – such as a uniform – then you also might be eligible for tax relief. Some good examples of uniform costs are nurses buying their scrubs, or restaurant workers buying their own uniforms. However, the rules state that tax relief is not allowed for uniforms that are simply clothing of a specific type or colour – you can’t claim if your boss wants you to wear blue t-shirts, for example.
Here is a chart from HMRC to outline some of the expenses you might be able to claim:
Industry | Occupation | Deduction £ | |
Agriculture | all workers | 100 | |
Airlines | pilots, co-pilots, helicopter pilots and uniformed flight deck crew | 1,022 | |
cabin crew – stewards and stewardesses | 720 | ||
Aluminium | a. continual casting operators, process operators, de-dimplers, driers, drill punchers, dross unloaders, firemen (engaged to light and maintain furnaces), furnace operators and their helpers, leaders, mould-men, pourers, remelt department labourers and roll flatteners | 140 | |
b. cable hands, case makers, labourers, mates, truck drivers and measurers and storekeepers | 80 | ||
c. apprentices | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 120 | ||
Armed forces | all ranks in the:
– Army – RAF – Royal Marines |
100 | |
– Royal Navy | 80 | ||
Banks and building societies | uniformed doormen and messengers | 60 | |
Brass and copper | braziers, coppersmiths, finishers, fitters, moulders, turners and all other workers | 120 | |
Building | a. joiners and carpenters | 140 | |
b. cement works, roofing felt and asphalt labourers | 80 | ||
c. labourers and navvies | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 120 | ||
Building materials | a. stone masons | 120 | |
b. tilemakers and labourers | 60 | ||
c. all other worker | 80 | ||
Clothing | a. lacemakers, hosiery bleachers, dyers, scourers and knitters, knitwear bleachers and dyers | 60 | |
b. all other workers | 60 | ||
Constructional engineering (includes buildings, shipyards, bridges and roads) | a. blacksmiths and their strikers, burners, caulkers, chippers, drillers, erectors, fitters, holders up, markers off, platers, riggers, riveters, rivet heaters, scaffolders, sheeters, template workers, turners and welders | 140 | |
b. banksmen, labourers, shop-helpers, slewers and straighteners | 80 | ||
c. apprentices and storekeepers | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 100 | ||
Electrical and electricity supply | a. workers incurring laundry costs only | 60 | |
b. all other workers | 120 | ||
Trades ancillary to engineering | a. pattern makers | 140 | |
b. labourers, supervisory and unskilled workers | 80 | ||
c. apprentices and storekeepers | 60 | ||
d. motor mechanics in garage repair shop | 120 | ||
e. all other workers | 120 | ||
Fire service | uniformed fire fighters and fire officers | 80 | |
Food | all workers | 60 | |
Forestry | all workers | 100 | |
Glass | all workers | 80 | |
Healthcare staff in the National Health Service, private hospitals and nursing homes | a. ambulance staff on active service | 185 | |
b. nurses, midwives, chiropodists, dental nurses, occupational, speech, physiotherapists and other therapists, healthcare assistants, phlebotomists and radiographers
shoes and stockings or tights allowance (where everyone is required to wear the same colour or style) |
125
12 shoes 6 tights or stockings |
||
c. plaster room orderlies, hospital porters, ward clerks, sterile supply workers, hospital domestics and hospital catering staff | 125 | ||
d. laboratory staff, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants | 80 | ||
e. uniformed ancillary staff – maintenance workers, grounds staff, drivers, parking attendants and security guards, receptionists and other uniformed staff | 80 | ||
Heating | a. pipe fitters and plumbers | 120 | |
b. coverers, laggers, domestic glaziers, heating engineers and all their mates | 120 | ||
c. all gas workers and all other workers | 100 | ||
Iron mining | a. fillers, miners and underground workers | 120 | |
b. all other workers | 100 | ||
Iron and steel | a. day labourers, general labourers, stockmen, timekeepers, warehouse staff and weighmen | 80 | |
b. apprentices | 60 | ||
c. all other workers | 140 | ||
Leather | a. curriers (wet workers), fellmongering workers and tanning operatives (wet) | 80 | |
b. all other workers | 60 | ||
Particular engineering (work on commercial basis in a factory or workshop producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks) | a. pattern makers | 140 | |
b. chainmakers, cleaners, galvanisers, tinners and wire drawers in the wire drawing industry and toolmakers in the lock making industry | 120 | ||
c. apprentices and storekeepers | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 80 | ||
Police force | ranks of police officers up to and including chief inspector (but not West Yorkshire Police employees)
community support officers including Metropolitan Police (but not West Yorkshire Police employees) |
140 | |
other police employees (but not special constables) | 60 | ||
Precious metals | all workers | 100 | |
Printing | a. letterpress section-electrical engineers (rotary presses), electrotypers, ink and roller makers, machine minders (rotary), maintenance engineers (rotary presses) and stereotypers | 140 | |
b. bench hands (periodical and bookbinding section), compositors (letterpress section), readers (letterpress section) telecommunications and electronic section wire room operators, warehousemen (paper box making section) | 60 | ||
c. all other workers | 100 | ||
Prisons | uniformed prison officers | 80 | |
Public service – socks and inland waterways | a. dockers, dredger drivers and hopper steerers | 80 | |
b. all other workers | 60 | ||
Public service – public transport | a. garage hands including cleaners | 80 | |
b. conductors and drivers | 60 | ||
Quarrying | all workers | 100 | |
Railways | See the appropriate category for craftsmen (for example engineers, vehicles) all other workers | 100 | |
Seamen | carpenters
a. passenger liners |
165 | |
b. cargo vessels, tankers, coasters and ferries | 140 | ||
Shipyards | a. blacksmiths and their strikers, boilermakers, burners, carpenters, caulkers, drillers, furnacemen (platers) holders up, fitters, platers, plumbers, riveters, sheet iron workers, shipwrights, tubers and welders | 140 | |
b. labourers | 80 | ||
c. apprentices and storekeepers | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 100 | ||
Textiles and textile printing | a. carders, carding engineers, overlookers and technicians in spinning mills | 120 | |
b. all other workers | 80 | ||
Vehicles | a. builders, railway vehicle repairers and railway wagon lifters | 140 | |
b. railway vehicle painters, letterers, and builders’ and repairers’ assistants | 80 | ||
c. all other workers | 60 | ||
Wood and furniture | a. carpenters, cabinetmakers, joiners, wood carvers and woodcutting machinists | 140 | |
b. artificial limb makers (other than in wood), organ builders and packaging case makers | 120 | ||
c. coopers not providing their own tools, labourers, polishers and upholsterers | 60 | ||
d. all other workers | 100 |
Can you claim for vehicles?
Yes, you can also claim for using vehicles for your job, but there are a few rules to understand. Cars, vans, motorbikes and bicycles can all give you tax relief, but you can only claim for travel costs incurred while travelling for jobs – not to and from your place of work unless you can prove your place of work is temporary.
There is another key difference in claiming tax relief for vehicles. Is the vehicle yours, whether bought or leased with your own money? Or is the vehicle owned or leased by your employer? For the former, you will probably be eligible for tax relief on the approved mileage rate, which covers the costs of owning and running your own vehicle, encompassing everything from fuel and electricity through to road tax, MOTs and repairs. The rate as of now is 45p per mile for cars and vans, 24p for motorcycles, and 20p for using a bicycle. However, if you drive a car or van for more than 10,000 miles in a year, this amount drops to 25p per mile.
But what if you use a company car? In this case, you will be eligible for claiming tax relief for your fuel and electricity for any business exclusive travel. There may be occasions where your employer reimburses you some of the money, in which case you can claim relief on the difference.
In both cases, it’s important that you keep good records of all your travel, as well as the cost of your fuel. You may need this detail to satisfy HMRC should they ever want to check your records.
What else is covered?
Finally, employees can claim tax relief on an astonishing array of things – as long as they can prove they are exclusively work-related. You might be able to claim overnight expenses when travelling for business, for example. There might be professional fees and subscriptions that you need to have for work, too. And you could also make claims for when you have to work from home – the cost of the utilities and business telephone calls, for example. However, you can’t claim for anything you use for both private and business use – your internet connection, for instance. Nor can you claim for anything while working from home if you choose to work from home – it has to be non-voluntary.
Do you need help with claiming tax relief on expenses as an employee? If so, don’t hesitate to call us. Prestige can help you file the self-assessment in order to claim, and will ensure that you get back everything you are owed. Call us today for a quick chat or to arrange a consultation.