FREE uniform tax refund
Reclaim £100s from up to five years of expenses
If you wear a uniform at your job and handle the washing, mending, or replacement of it on your own, you could potentially recover hundreds of pounds in tax refunds for up to five years of such expenses. This applies whether you’re simply wearing a branded T-shirt or you’re in a complete uniform as a pilot, police officer, or nurse. Avoid paying a claims company, as their fees can consume a significant portion of your refund or even leave you at a loss—take care of it yourself at no cost.
Am I eligible for a uniform tax rebate?
To qualify for tax relief on washing your work clothing, each of the following conditions must be met:
- You wear a recognisable uniform that shows you’ve got a certain job, such as a branded T-shirt, nurse or police uniform. HMRC suggests that a straightforward way to determine this is by considering whether, while wearing your work uniform in public, a member of the public could identify your employer due to the presence of logos or the company name on your uniform.
- Your employer requires you to wear it while you’re working. This means you have no other option but to buy it. You can still claim the whole year’s relief even if you only had to wear the uniform on ONE DAY within the tax year.
- You have to purchase, clean, repair or replace it yourself. Nevertheless, you cannot make a claim if your employer cleans your equipment, offers facilities for cleaning (even if you don’t utilize them), or compensates you for performing this maintenance.
- You paid income tax in the year you are claiming for. Since this is a perk to reduce your tax liability, you can’t claim if you paid no tax in the year you’re claiming for.
Who can’t claim via the rebate?
Members of the armed forces should be exempt from having to navigate the usual expense process. Instead, the cost of maintaining their uniforms should be covered through adjustments in their tax code, with an increase in their tax-free personal allowance to make up for it.
For those who are self-employed, rather than seeking a rebate, uniform and laundry expenses should be reported directly on your self-assessment tax return.
How much can I get?
The typical flat-rate allowance for uniform upkeep is £60. When you claim a tax refund for your uniform, you’ll receive a reimbursement equivalent to the tax you would have paid on that £60. For those on the basic tax rate, this means a rebate of 20% of £60, amounting to £12. Those in the higher tax bracket will receive a refund of £24.
Since the £60 is a fixed amount, there’s no need to document or report the specific expenses you incur.
Besides the allowance for the current year, you can also claim for up to four previous tax years (2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24), totaling five years. If you’re a basic-rate taxpayer who wore a uniform during each of these five tax years, your rebate will be £60.
You have until 5 April 2025 to submit a claim for the 2020/21 tax year. After this date, the opportunity to backdate your claim for that year will no longer be available.
Depending on your industry, you could get more
Some occupations have more specific limits, often to do with specialist uniforms, such as ambulance staff who get a maximum annual allowance of £185. Basic-rate taxpayers would get back £37 tax on that for each year they claim (higher rate £74). In addition to their standard allowance (£125), nurses and midwives can also claim for shoes, socks and tights.
Here are some other examples (all are annual allowances):
- Firefighters and fire officers’ allowance is £80 (basic-rate taxpayers can get £16, higher rate £32).
- Dental nurses and healthcare assistants’ allowance is £125 (basic-rate taxpayers can get £25, higher rate £50).
- Pilots and co-pilots’ allowance is £1,022 (basic-rate taxpayers can get £204, higher rate £408.80).
- Mechanics’ allowance is £120 (basic-rate taxpayers can get £24, higher rate £48).
Check the full list of occupations to see if yours is listed.
The only way you can get more than the standard payment is to prove that your annual uniform laundry bill is higher. For any claim (see below for a how-to) you’ll need to keep receipts, and fill in a ‘P87’ form and send it off.
How and when will I get the money?
- For the current tax year, your tax code will change, so you’ll be taxed less in future and see a slight increase in your take-home pay. HMRC typically processes new tax codes within two days. However, the impact on your actual pay depends on whether your employer receives the code in time to meet their payroll cut-off. For instance, if you’re paid on the 25th of each month and your employer receives the updated tax code by the 10th, it should be reflected in that month’s pay. Conversely, if the code arrives on the 23rd, it’s likely to be applied the following month.
- If your claim is for previous tax years, HMRC will either make adjustments through your tax code or give you a tax refund. Once your claim has been received and processed by HMRC, you’ll be sent a letter telling you how much you’re entitled to, and details on when the money will be paid.
How do I make a claim?
WARNING – Beware official-looking rebate firms. If you claim via the official Gov.uk website, it’s FREE and you keep your entire rebate. So there’s no need to use reclaim sites that provide the same service for a fee. One firm we saw charges a whopping 30% + £30 + VAT, meaning it could eat up a big chunk of a £60 rebate – or even leave you out of pocket.
How you go about claiming uniform tax back depends on whether or not this is your first time claiming it:
Claiming for the first time (or for more than £1,000)?
You can apply online or by post. You’ll need to fill in form P87 online. You can also print it out and send to: Pay As You Earn, HM Revenue & Customs, BX9 1AS. Write ‘Repayment Claim’ on the envelope. If applying by post, you’ll need to fill in a form for each year you’re claiming for.
If you need the form in an alternative format, contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on 0300 200 3310.
You’ll be asked for information on:
- Employer’s name and address
- Your occupation, job title and industry sector
- Your details, including your national insurance number and your pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) reference
- Whether you’re claiming flat-rate expenses (usually you will be, if not, you’ll need detailed records of costs). See flat-rate expenses allowed for different occupations
- How you want to be paid – into your bank account or by cheque
The form is a catch-all, so asks about other expenses you may be claiming, for instance, a company car. If you don’t get any of these, just click ‘No’ on each page of the form that doesn’t apply.
Claimed before? If so, you can phone HMRC
Usually, if you’ve submitted a reclaim, your tax code will be adjusted in future years to take account of your costs, so you won’t need to reclaim again.
However, if this doesn’t happen, and if you’ve claimed before and had expenses of less than £1,000, you can do the reclaim over the phone (for bigger claims, you’ll need to use the form again). Call 0300 200 3310, 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, or 8am to 4pm on Saturday.
If, as part of its normal tax admin, HMRC sends you a P810 ‘Tax Review’ form – to check your tax code is correct – you can also fill this in to claim tax relief. For expenses over £1,000, or if you changed jobs midway through a tax year, you’ll need to fill in additional forms.
Anything else worth knowing?
You can’t claim for the initial cost of the clothes.
There are other tax-deductible expenses you may be able to claim, such as the cost of professional fees, specialist tools or travel for your job. See more on the other allowances on the HMRC website.