Tax refund for expenses

chromiehomie

Hello all, new to the forum and just asking for some advice. I am a Prison Officer in England and a few colleagues of mine have told me that they have recieved a tax rebate from a company that claims for extra expenses etc. 
They have provided the company with their details etc and after around 4 weeks they have recieved a tax rebate of around £2500 after taking out fees for the company. 
Now one person said that their tax codes have changed so they now have a higher personal allowance on their payslips. I believe they said it was around 1857L? But cannot confirm. I have no issues with the legitimacy of the company as many have recieved payouts etc. The main issue I have is the tax code changing. I don't want to apply for this rebate if there would be the potential of receiving a notification in further years saying that I have been underpaying tax and owing the tax man a hefty sum. 
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

chromiehomie said:

Hello all, new to the forum and just asking for some advice. I am a Prison Officer in England and a few colleagues of mine have told me that they have recieved a tax rebate from a company that claims for extra expenses etc. 
They have provided the company with their details etc and after around 4 weeks they have recieved a tax rebate of around £2500 after taking out fees for the company. 
Now one person said that their tax codes have changed so they now have a higher personal allowance on their payslips. I believe they said it was around 1857L? But cannot confirm. I have no issues with the legitimacy of the company as many have recieved payouts etc. The main issue I have is the tax code changing. I don't want to apply for this rebate if there would be the potential of receiving a notification in further years saying that I have been underpaying tax and owing the tax man a hefty sum. 
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

Take issue with their legitimacy. It is amazing how many people sign up to these schemes, make a claim, then end up having to pay it all back, plus more on top, to HMRC due to the claim not being legitimate. Many of these firms often file the claim "creatively" and leave the individual in the lurch when HMRC look at the numbers. 

These companies also charge a fee, usually 20-40% of any amount rebated and you do not get that back when HMRC come to you for the money. If you have a legitimate claim then submit the paperwork yourself and you will get the amount back in full directly from HMRC with no fees applied.

What is your union's guidance on claiming uniform allowances (I am presuming that this is what they are claiming for)? Have you read the HMRC guidance on submitting a uniform tax claim? The MSE guide?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

A tax code is only ever provisional, there can be many reasons why the final position for the year is vastly different to the tax code.

Don't forget companies like this tend to have terms which mean they receive x% of any refund but if that refund subsequently needs to be paid back to HMRC there is nothing in the terms which say the company has to contribute to that.

So refund £3,500 less fee £1,000 = £2,500 in your bank account.  If HMRC intimately investigate the claim and don't agree £3,500 is due you will have to pay £3,500 back (probably plus interest).

How much do you think the claims company will pay 🤔

chromiehomie

Thank you for your response. I have previously looked into claiming for the uniform allowances but this is on my to do list. According to the GOV.uk website I am able to claim for £80 tax relief per year for uniform. Obviously that doesn't sum up for the £2500 rebate that has been recieved by others, so sadly I am unsure what expenses have been claimed for.

Jeremy535897

chromiehomie said:

Thank you for your response. I have previously looked into claiming for the uniform allowances but this is on my to do list. According to the GOV.uk website I am able to claim for £80 tax relief per year for uniform. Obviously that doesn't sum up for the £2500 rebate that has been recieved by others, so sadly I am unsure what expenses have been claimed for.

We have seen cases where fraudulent agents pretend that taxpayers have made investments in EIS companies when they haven't. A repayment is made, the agent takes a substantial cut, and then HMRC looks into it and recovers the whole of the repayment from the taxpayer.