Claim Your Tax Back — Uniform, Tools & Job Expenses Rebate

Overview

If you spend your own money on things you need for your job and your employer hasn't paid you back, you can claim tax relief from HMRC and get money back — covering uniforms, tools, professional fees, and (for past years) working from home. You can backdate up to 4 tax years, it's free to claim directly, and most people who qualify never bother.

What You Can Claim

• Uniform & tools — washing a branded/specialist uniform, or buying and maintaining tools and equipment you need for the job (flat-rate amounts, no receipts needed).
• Professional fees & subscriptions — membership of an HMRC-approved professional body (e.g. BCS or the IET) that you need, or that helps, for your work.
• Working from home — additional household costs (see the note below — backdating only).
• Travel & mileage — business journeys in your own vehicle, or travel and meals to a temporary workplace (not your normal commute). For 2026/27 the approved car rate is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles (45p for earlier years) — you can claim relief on the gap if your employer pays you less.

Working From Home — read this first

This is one of the biggest and most-missed claims, but the rules have changed:

• It is abolished from 6 April 2026 — you can't claim it for 2026/27 onwards.
• BUT you can still backdate the 4 previous tax years (2022/23–2025/26) if you qualified.
• The flat rate is £6/week (about £312/year) — you get your tax rate back on that, so roughly £62/year at basic rate or £125/year at higher rate, up to about £500 across the four years.
• You must have had to work from home — because there was no workplace available, or your employer has no office. If your contract merely let you work from home, or it was your choice (or COVID), you cannot claim.
• Umbrella, agency and remote contractors: you can claim if there was no UK workplace to attend and you weren't reimbursed — this is very commonly missed.

How to Claim

1. Click the link on this page to open HMRC's "Claim tax relief for your job expenses".
2. Sign in with your Government Gateway ID.
3. Claim online — you can do multiple tax years and up to 5 employments in one go (use the postal P87 form if you have more than 5 employers or are claiming fuel for a company vehicle).
4. Uniform/tools flat-rate claims need no evidence. For working from home (2022/23–2025/26) you must attach evidence of why you had to work from home — your employment contract or a letter from your employer.
5. HMRC either refunds you or adjusts your tax code.

Requirements

• You're an employee who paid income tax in the year you're claiming for.
• You paid the cost yourself and your employer didn't reimburse it.
• Your allowable expenses are £2,500 or less for that year (above that, you must use Self Assessment).
• You don't complete a Self Assessment return for that year (if you do, claim through your tax return instead).

Important Terms

• Check your payslips first — you can't claim anything your employer already reimbursed (look for any expense, allowance or mileage line).
• Backdating is limited to the last 4 tax years, so don't sit on the oldest year — it drops off.
• ⚠️ Never pay a "tax rebate" company that takes a cut — claiming direct on GOV.UK is free and takes minutes.

Tips

• Wash a branded work uniform yourself? Claim the flat-rate uniform allowance — quick, no receipts.
• Pay for a professional membership on HMRC's approved list? Claimable.
• Work from home for a remote or overseas client with no UK office (including via an umbrella company)? You likely qualify for the backdated working-from-home years, as long as you weren't reimbursed.
• Once submitted, track your claim in your HMRC account.