Union payments tax free - How can we claim back the tax?

doingwhatican

Hi, my wife works for the NHS and she had a letter through a while ago telling her that she could claim back some tax as her union payments are now taken from her pay packet pre tax and are now non taxable. We were advised to use a company to help claim back the tax for the last 6 years but they want 40%.
My question, is it a simple thing to claim back the tax that she has paid in relation to the union payments she has made for the last 6 years?
We have all of her payslips (the last 18 years worth ) so we can get all the inividual unoin payments that have been deducted from her pay.

Any help or advise would be greatly received.

catwoman150

Write or phone up your tax office and explain that your wife is in unsion and that she pays monthly. They will alter her Tax code for free.

doingwhatican

Is it really that easy? What about the tax for the last 6 years - do they do all the work?

WestonDave

If the payments were taken pre tax then you will already have got it tax free - not sure if at some point this wasn't the case.

If they were taken from after tax income then all you need to do is phone your local Revenue Enquiry office and they will take you through the relevant procedure - it used to be called a Section 198 claim (allowable expenses in employment) and covered all sorts of things like professional subscriptions etc. You may have to fill in a form and maybe supply copy payslips as evidence but there really is no need to pay someone 40% for doing this.

catwoman150

doingwhatican wrote: »

Is it really that easy? What about the tax for the last 6 years - do they do all the work?

Yes I think it is. I did it a couple of years ago after seeing the same letter that want 40%. You do get a different tax code to the people who are not in unison.
Give your local tax office a ring and they should be able to tell you a lot more than I can.

fengirl_2

All she needs to do is write a letter to her tax office stating that she has been paying the subs and wants to claim for the past 6 yrs. Detail the annual amounts claimed - dont send any payslips. She should say that she wants the repayment in the form of a payable order as some HMRC offices are being lazy and amending code numbers to give 6 yrs relief, which is not correct.
Is she uniformed staff? Does she claim for her footwear and black tights, laundering of uniform?