tax relief on boots

Jk2000 · 10 January 2017 at 3:09PM

I'm self employed & work outside a fair amount.
I own and use steel toe cap safety boots , I claimed these as allowable expense in my self assessment .

I'm considering purchasing a new pair of boots for work , but this time I'm looking to buy 'trekking' type boots rather than 'safety' boots as I believe these would be more useful/appropriate than the regular steel toe work boot type.

so my question is can I claim the purchase of these 'trekking' boots in my self assessment allowable expenses ? I realise there will be a grey area as they are not strictly a 'safety' boot , plus the potential 'duality of purpose' use .

however importantly can it be argued this type of boots can be classed as a 'safety/protective' boot due to the non-slip properties of their soles which I believe is another criteria to qualify as safety/protective clothing other than the more usual steel toe attribute ?

thanks

Pennywise · 10 January 2017 at 3:12PM

No, nothing that would form part of an ordinary person's wardrobe would be tax-allowable.

Jk2000 · 10 January 2017 at 3:35PM

Pennywise wrote: »

No, nothing that would form part of an ordinary person's wardrobe would be tax-allowable.

but under that rule a steel toe boot could also be worn by an ordinary person outside of work.

the point I'm making is .
we know a piece of protective clothing can be claimed against tax, a trekking boot has non slip protective properties (which is a recognised protective feature according to tax qualifying criteria) , so can the boot in question not therefore be classes as a tax deductible piece of protective clothing .

this is course is assuming the boot is only being used during work

TheCyclingProgrammer · 10 January 2017 at 4:10PM

Borderline but I agree with Pennywise. For what you're saving, is it really worth the potential bother?

comeandgo · 10 January 2017 at 4:19PM

They are not a safety boot and the non slip tread has not passed any legislative tests, it's just a selling speel. Also, true safety items are VAT free.

Apodemus · 10 January 2017 at 9:05PM

Have you looked at decorators safety boots? The pair I have meet the criteria of being proper safety boots (steel toe-cap, nail-proof sole and oil-slip resistance), Vat-free, yet pretty good for all-round training-shoe type use.