Claiming Uniform tax rebate - warning

DJMitchell

Did you know that if you wear a uniform for work then you're likely to be entitled to a small tax allowance?

Or how about claiming the difference in rates if you use you private car for work purposes?

These and more (such as union subscriptions) all qualify and there are many companies out there who offer to do the claim for you in return for a sizeable percentage of any refund (often 40 - 45%).

There are a number of reasons not to do this via a company.

1. It's very simple to do this yourself via the HMRC website or by even writing a letter to HMRC.
2. The amount of actual repayment you'll be due is normally not much, the average person will be entitled to £60 uniform allowance a year, a nurse £148. That equates to £12 tax saving (£29 for a nurse) per year.

3. And this is the big one, how these firms work is to get you to sign a "deed of assignment" for the 4 years entitling them to anything found at that time. They then ask HMRC to reconcile the last 4 years and make any refund direct to them, they then take their cut and pass the rest on. That works for anything found not just the uniform allowance.

So say for instance you had been due a £500 refund back in 2015 but hadn't claimed it, they would get 40% of that.

In some cases however they get you to sign a 64-8 which basically makes them entitled to anything that happens until you tell HMRC to stop! In 2 years time you could get some unrelated payout and they'd take their massive cut! This is what they operate for, the £20 they make from Mrs Jones uniform allowance is peanuts to them, it barely covers their costs, they are hoping for a Mr Smith to be due something big and unrelated.

So please don't make the mistake, spend 10mins doing it yourself and you'll be much better off.

00ec25

all very true, also read the 110 pages of comments in the wash your uniform at home thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/27967/wash-your-uniform-at-home&page=110&highlight=uniform