Uniform Tax Rebate

Uniform help promote a company’s name, your employees become living, breathing representations of your company. Not only does this become a form of free advertisement, but now, your employee is a true brand ambassador for your organization. This is a massive consideration for any company who wants a more professional look, whether you are a sole trader or a large national or international company. Perhaps you need polo shirts bearing your company name, or maybe you’re going for a more corporate look? Whatever the style of uniform, if it is easily recognisable as belonging to your company it is a fantastic way of promoting it, whilst instilling your company’s branding into the public consciousness.

Asking employees to wear distinctive uniforms in the colors associated with the company can go a long way in establishing an impression in the mind of the consumer. Uniforms identify workers as individuals who are associated with a company and its products, and they help to brand the company by distinguishing it from the competition. Consistency in employee appearance can create a positive impression on the customer and contribute to projecting the corporate image.

A uniform also signals that the wearer is a professional that takes his career seriously. It’s no secret that the any industry employs a significant number of people, but not all of them are serious about their work. A clean and presentable uniform lets the world, and your employer that you are proud of you job.

Requiring employees to wear a uniform eliminates the need for creating and enforcing a dress code. In years past employees would usually wear similar, conservative clothing, but in today’s world workers tend to express their individuality through clothing. Enforcing a dress code is time consuming and can lead to hard feelings on the part of employees who are told that their attire is not appropriate for the workplace.

HMRC say that the definition is a uniform that the employees would be recognised as wearing a uniform “by the public in the street”, and adds that a detachable badge is not sufficient to regard their clothing as uniform for income tax purposes.

The HMRC which is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support, also responsible for refunding tax money. You may be able to claim for even plain clothes that you wear only for work. However, the responsibility of buying, washing, repairing or replacing the uniform is entirely up to you. You should not be getting any allowance for washing your uniform from your employer nor does he provide any facilities for you to do so.

In order to get a tax rebate for uniforms, the HMRC says that you’ve got to:

Wear special clothing for work. This does not include a suit, this means that it would be something that you wouldn’t normally wear outside of work for example you work at dominos then they will require you to wear uniform that you would not normally wear outside work.
If you companies is already paying you to do the laundry, then the HMRC will not refund you because the money is not coming from your own pocket.
If you are not paying tax, because you can’t claim something back if you are not paying in in the first place.

How much to claim

You will be able to claim fora standard flat-rate expense allowance (FREA) wish are set amounts that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has agreed are typically spent each year by employees in different occupations.

If your occupation isn’t listed on the HMRC website, you may still be able to claim a standard annual amount of £60 in tax relief, however If your uniform has more specific requirements, then you will often get a higher allowance, the maximum is £140.

You can claim for the last four years plus the current year, as long as you’ve been wearing the uniform for this length of time. Once you claim, your tax code will change so that you’ll pay less tax in the future.

HMRC gives you the possibility to claim for what you have spent taking care of your uniform, in this case you will to provide all receipts of your expenses.

How to claim

If you’re claiming a tax allowance for the first time or you paid out more than £1,000, you will need to Fill in the P87 form online, you can submit it online also there are a lot of websites that offer to do this for you, but as most charge a fee, you can avoid this by doing it yourself for free.

You can also claim by post, you’ll have to fill in the P87 form online and print it out and send it to Pay As You Earn, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS. Write ‘Repayment Claim’ on the envelope to speed things up. You’ll need to fill in one form for each year you’re claiming for.

On the P87 form you will ask information on:

Employer’s name and address
Your occupation, job title and industry sector
Your details, including your National Insurance Number and your PAYE reference
Whether you’re claiming flat rate expenses
How you want to be paid – into your bank account or by cheque