Uniform tax rebate calculator

If you wash, repair or replace a uniform or work clothing yourself, you can get tax relief on it. Pick your job from HMRC's list and say what rate of Income Tax you pay. The calculator shows the rebate for this tax year and for as many as 4 years before it.

Your uniform tax rebate

£125.00

£25.00 a year for this tax year and the 4 before it, at the 20% basic rate

Your details

Your job All workers (£100) Pilots, co-pilots, helicopter pilots and uniformed flight deck crew (£1,022) Cabin crew — stewards and stewardesses (£720) 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) Cable hands, case makers, labourers, mates, truck drivers and measurers and storekeepers (£80) Apprentices (£60) All other workers (£120) All ranks in the Royal Air Force, Royal Marines and the army (£100) Royal Navy (£80) Uniformed doormen and messengers (£60) Braziers, coppersmiths, finishers, fitters, moulders, turners and all other workers (£120) Joiners and carpenters (£140) Cement works, roofing felt and asphalt labourers (£80) Labourers and navvies (£60) All other workers (£120) Stone masons (£120) Tilemakers and labourers (£60) All other workers (£80) Lacemakers, hosiery bleachers, dyers, scourers and knitters, knitwear bleachers and dyers (£60) All other workers (£60) 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) Banksmen, labourers, shop-helpers, slewers and straighteners (£80) Apprentices and storekeepers (£60) All other workers (£100) Workers incurring laundry costs only (£60) All other workers (£120) Pattern makers (£140) Labourers, supervisory and unskilled workers (£80) Apprentices and storekeepers (£60) Motor mechanics in garage repair shop (£120) All other workers (£120) Uniformed fire fighters and fire officers (£80) All workers (£60) All workers (£100) All workers (£80) Ambulance staff on active service (£185) Nurses, midwives, chiropodists, dental nurses, occupational, speech, physiotherapists and other therapists, healthcare assistants, domiciliary care workers, phlebotomists, radiographers and healthcare scientists (£125) Plaster room orderlies, hospital porters, ward clerks, sterile supply workers, hospital domestics and hospital catering staff (£125) Laboratory staff, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants (£80) Uniformed ancillary staff — maintenance workers, grounds staff, drivers, parking attendants and security guards, receptionists and other uniformed staff (£80) Pipe fitters and plumbers (£120) Coverers, laggers, domestic glaziers, heating engineers and all their mates (£120) All gas workers and all other workers (£100) Fillers, miners and underground workers (£120) All other workers (£100) Day labourers, general labourers, stockmen, timekeepers, warehouse staff and weighmen (£80) Apprentices (£60) All other workers (£140) Curriers (wet workers), fellmongering workers and tanning operatives (wet) (£80) All other workers (£60) Pattern makers (£140) Chainmakers, cleaners, galvanisers, tinners and wire drawers in the wire drawing industry and toolmakers in the lock making industry (£120) Apprentices and storekeepers (£60) All other workers (£80) Ranks of police officers up to and including chief inspector (£140) Community support officers including Metropolitan Police (£140) Other police employees (but not special constables) (£60) All workers (£100) Letterpress section — electrical engineers (rotary presses), electrotypers, ink and roller makers, machine minders (rotary), maintenance engineers (rotary presses) and stereotypers (£140) 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) All other workers (£100) Uniformed prison officers (£80) Dockers, dredger drivers and hopper steerers (£80) All other workers (£60) Garage hands including cleaners (£80) Conductors and drivers (£60) All workers (£100) See the appropriate category for craftsmen (for example engineers, vehicles) all other workers (£100) Carpenters, Passenger liners (£165) Cargo vessels, tankers, coasters and ferries (£140) 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) Labourers (£80) Apprentices and storekeepers (£60) All other workers (£100) Carders, carding engineers, overlookers and technicians in spinning mills (£120) All other workers (£80) Builders, railway vehicle repairers and railway wagon lifters (£140) Railway vehicle painters, letterers, and builders’ and repairers’ assistants (£80) All other workers (£60) Carpenters, cabinetmakers, joiners, wood carvers and woodcutting machinists (£140) Artificial limb makers (other than in wood), organ builders and packaging case makers (£120) Coopers not providing their own tools, labourers, polishers and upholsterers (£60) All other workers (£100) My job is not in the list (£60) From HMRC's list of flat rate expenses

I must wear shoes of the same colour or style (£12) I must wear tights or stockings of the same colour or style (£6)

What your employer pays towards these costs

What your employer pays towards these costs each year, if anything

Where you pay income tax England, Wales or Northern Ireland Scotland Scotland has its own income tax bands

Your tax band 20% basic rate 40% higher rate 45% additional rate The band your pay falls into

How many tax years are you claiming for? This tax year only This tax year and the 1 before it This tax year and the 2 before it This tax year and the 3 before it This tax year and the 4 before it This tax year, and up to 4 earlier tax years

CalculateReset

Your uniform tax rebate

	Amount
Flat rate amount for your job	£125.00
Less what your employer pays	£0.00
Amount you can claim a year	£125.00
Tax rate	20% basic
Rebate a year	£25.00
Tax years	5
Total rebate	£125.00

How this was worked out

1. Flat rate amount for your job: £125.00
2. What your employer pays towards these costs: £0.00
3. Amount you can claim a year: £125.00 + £0.00 − £0.00 = £125.00
4. Your tax rate: 20% basic
5. Rebate a year: £125.00 × 20% = £25.00
6. Tax years you are claiming for: 5
7. Total rebate: £25.00 × 5 = £125.00

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What the calculator assumes

• You are an employee, not self-employed, and you do not fill in a Self Assessment tax return.
• You did the same job and paid the same rate of Income Tax in every year you claim for.
• You paid at least as much Income Tax as the rebate in each of those years.
• You claim HMRC's fixed amount for your job, not what you actually spent.
• The rates of tax are this year's. Some Scottish rates were a little different in earlier years.

How the rebate works

HMRC has agreed a fixed amount a year for many jobs, called a flat rate expense. It comes off the pay you are taxed on, so you pay less tax. The saving is the amount multiplied by your rate of tax. GOV.UK's own example is a claim of £60 by someone who pays tax at 20%, who gets £12 back.

For a nurse on the basic rate, the fixed amount is £125, so the rebate is £25 a year. Claimed for this year and the 4 before it, that is £125. If your employer tells everyone to wear shoes, or tights or stockings, of the same colour or style, you can add £12 for shoes and £6 for tights or stockings.

If your job is not in HMRC's list, you can still claim £60 a year, as long as you pay to clean, repair or replace a uniform or specialist clothing yourself. If your employer pays part of the cost, take that part off. If it pays all of it, you cannot claim.

Who can claim

A uniform is clothing that shows what your job is, such as a nurse's or a police officer's. Specialist clothing such as overalls or safety boots counts too, even though it does not show your job. You must pay the costs yourself and use the clothing only for work.

Some costs never count. You cannot claim for the first purchase of work clothes, or for everyday clothes you wear to work, even if your employer asks for a certain colour. You cannot claim for washing your uniform at home if your employer offers a free laundry service and you choose not to use it. Protective equipment is not covered either, because your employer should give it to you free or pay you back.

How to claim

You can claim yourself with HMRC's online service on GOV.UK. Choose "Uniform, work clothing and tools", and you do not need to send receipts for a flat rate claim. For this tax year, HMRC usually changes your tax code, so you pay a little less tax each payday. For earlier years, it changes your tax code or sends you a refund.

Some companies offer to make the claim for you. If you use one, check its fee first, because the fee comes out of your rebate. If you fill in a Self Assessment tax return, you claim on the return instead.

To see what your pay leaves you with after tax, use the take-home pay calculator. The tax code checker explains the code HMRC gives you after a claim. If you work in the NHS, the NHS pay calculator shows pay and take-home for each band, and there are pages for police pay and armed forces pay too.

What it leaves out

• Claims for the exact amount you spent, which need receipts.
• Tax relief for small tools, working from home, travel or professional fees.
• Years in which you paid less Income Tax than the rebate.

Official guidance

• Check how much tax relief you can claim for uniforms, work clothing and tools on GOV.UK
• Claim tax relief for your job expenses: uniforms, work clothing and tools on GOV.UK

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