Tax Refund as a PAYE Employee

sunrise89

Hi there, had to re-sign up as for some reason it wouldn't accept my old log in details hence why the first post.

Anyway I have a question about the legitimacy of PAYE employees claiming tax refunds through companies?

Currently where I work it is rife amongst colleagues that they're using this company www.taxrefundzy.co.uk/ to obtain refunds.  The amounts people have been receiving are on average approximately £3000 with others nigh on up to 10k.  Apparently you sign a form..... to put it simply......  which gives them permission to deal with HMRC and your tax, to which they receive the refund, take their cut and transfer the rest to you.  

We are supplied safety boots, tooling, overalls which are cleaned and generally based at one place of work.  We do use our own mobiles but I suppose that is out of choice as technically the company could use the tannoy to contact people.  We also get some clothing with a logo on that we wash ourselves but using "The Refund Company" website we could get about 200 odd pounds for claiming this tax relief.

I just cant see how this "tax refundzy" can be claiming thousands of pounds for people who are PAYE employees of a company.  I'm no tax specialist and don't wat to cast aspersions but it whiffs! especially when some communication is via WhatsApp apparently with a bonus £50 for getting someone else to claim.  HMRC have probably at an estimate paid out refunds of between 60 - 100k in total, potentially more and I just cant see how HMRC aren't going to see that as a red flag for a company that has been around for donkeys which all of a sudden has to pay out large chunks of money to PAYE employees. 

Does anyone know how PAYE Tax Refund Specialists work? or if they're known to be unscrupulous and if they are when or will HMRC chase up the money for it to be returned?

Thanks

Jeremy535897

The simple answer is that you can do it yourself with a little bit of research, and not pay anyone else to do it.

A claim made for four tax years can add up, even to £10,000 if there were large mileage claims. However, there was a thread on here where a company (not the one you quote) was alleged to be making spurious EIS claims on behalf of people, who were then assessed to tax.

p00hsticks

Have a read of this thread for the potential drawbacks if it turns out after investigation by HMRC that you are not entitled to the refund claimed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6282689/used-a-tax-rebate-company-tommys-tax-and-im-a-bit-concerned/p1

KingOfSnake

I work in the tax department of a Tier 1 contractor, and whilst I have never heard or can comment on this company, I am aware of others targeting large construction sites. I would personally steer well clear of all of them as you can do it yourself.
You can do your own cleaning claim yourself: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32485
You can do tool claims: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32712
If you are at site < 24 months and incur T&S claims which are not fully reimbursed, you can claim the tax relief on the difference you received and what you actually incurred: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/travel-and-overnight-expenses
If you have paid for lodge (< 24 months again) and not reimbursed the full amount, you can claim tax relief of the difference.
If you had to work from home you can also claim tax relief on this: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/working-from-home-customers-may-be-eligible-to-claim-tax-relief-in-2021-to-2022

You can claim (assuming you incurred the expense) for the current tax year and the previous 4 tax years. 

The link on how to make the claim is above, or you can go via your Tax Account (bit of a ballache but easy enough in the end - or phone HMRC).

If you are unsure or need help, search The Chartered Institute of Taxation website for a local expert. They will charge - but probably not as much as these companies and they are both regulated and professional.