Tax advice needed please

wife_on_a_mission

Hello I am hoping this is in the right place apologies if not.

Basically my husband works for an energy supplier as a gas fitter. We were told a while ago by a friend that he could claim back some tax for uniform cleaning which is when I found an article on here.

(I did put a link to the article here but it says I cannot posts links yet )

So I sent a letter off to them and today received a reply saying

'I have reviewed your record and I am unable to give you any tax relief for laundering your uniform as (his employer) and HMRC have an agreement in place for which some employees can claim and for how much tax relief. As you are not in that group I am unable to allow the claim'

I tried calling them to clarify what this meant and they would not speak to me as it is my husbands claim and he is not able to call them at the moment.

I am just a little confused as I thought if you met the criteria you were entitled and they wouldn't tell me what kind of agreement they have with his employer and what that meant.

I just wondered if anyone here had a similar experience or could shed any light on it.

Thanks for your time

jem16

wife_on_a_mission wrote: »

I am just a little confused as I thought if you met the criteria you were entitled and they wouldn't tell me what kind of agreement they have with his employer and what that meant.

In some cases, the employer already includes an allowance against uniform in their salary payments. It could be this.

Your husband would need to call them for more info.

Savvy_Sue

And they are phone-able in the evenings and at weekends - Saturdays at least.

jimmo

Just to add to that, there is nothing wrong with your husband phoning HMRC, passing the security checks and then handing the phone over to you to do the business.

Also, if it is impossible for him to phone HMRC he could nominate you as his agent using form 64-8. Once that is processed you will be able to phone.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/64-8.pdf

Having said that, and nothing to do with HMRC but, I am a nominated agent for my son in his claims for Income Support but JobCentrePlus steadfastly reject my calls.

Now, very importantly, lots and lots of people have succeeded in making claims with a single letter or phone call. For whatever reason, you haven't. You therefore have to face up to the prospect of a long struggle against officialdom or give up now.

The letter you have received from HMRC is fundamentally flawed. A "local agreement" can only cover those employees who qualify to be included. It cannot prevent anybody, qualifying or not, from making an individual claim.

If you succeed the minimum your husband can claim is a tax allowance of £60 each year which, to a basic rate taxpayer is worth (60 @ 20%) £12.

At best, I would guess that the maximum achievable could be 3* that.

Just for starters on the red tape, does your husband wear a uniform?

What makes it a uniform?

Is it corporate clothing?

Is it protective clothing?