On this page8 sections
£60
Default flat rate where your job is not listed
5 years
Current year plus 4 previous
No receipts
Needed for a flat rate claim
The uniform tax rebate is the most-claimed and most-misunderstood item in the UK tax system. It is not a refund of your laundry bills. It is a fixed annual allowance, negotiated per industry, that reduces your taxable income. Once you understand that, the whole thing takes ten minutes and costs nothing.
The misunderstanding matters because it is what refund companies sell against. A firm charging a percentage of your refund for a claim you could make in ten minutes is charging for the ten minutes.
All figures are estimates on published 2026/27 rates. Confirm your own position with HMRC.
- Flat rate expense
- An agreed fixed amount you can claim each tax year to cover what you spend on the clothing and tools your job requires, without keeping receipts. HMRC negotiates the amount by industry and job. It reduces your taxable income, so the cash value to you is the amount multiplied by your marginal tax rate.
What HMRC actually pays for
HMRC's guidance on uniforms, work clothing and tools says you may be able to claim tax relief on the cost of:
- "repairing or replacing small tools you need to do your job (for example, scissors or an electric drill)"
- "cleaning, repairing or replacing a uniform or specialist clothing (for example, overalls or safety boots)"
On what counts as a uniform: "A uniform is a set of clothing that identifies you as having a certain occupation, for example nurse, or police officer." Specialist clothing also qualifies "even if it does not identify you as having a certain occupation, for example overalls or safety boots".
The three refusals
More claims fail on these than on anything else, and all three are stated plainly in HMRC's guidance.
1. The cost of buying work clothing. HMRC lists "the initial cost of buying clothing for work" as something you cannot claim relief for. Cleaning it, repairing it and replacing it are in. Buying it the first time is out.
2. Everyday clothes, whatever the dress code. You cannot claim for "cleaning, repairing or replacing everyday clothing you wear for work (even if you must wear a certain design or colour)". A shop requiring black trousers and a white shirt has a dress code, not a uniform. This rules out a large share of retail and hospitality workers who assume they qualify.
3. PPE. HMRC is explicit: "You cannot claim tax relief for PPE. If your job requires you to use PPE your employer should either give you PPE free of charge or ask you to buy it and reimburse you the costs." If your employer is making you pay for your own safety equipment, the answer is a conversation with your employer, not a tax claim.
One more exclusion worth knowing: you cannot claim "the cost of laundering your own uniform or specialist clothing if your employer provides a free laundering service, and you choose not to use it". And if your employer pays all of your expenses, HMRC states you cannot claim any tax relief at all.
Find your flat rate
HMRC publishes the full list of industries and jobs with the amount for each. The default is the one to remember: "If your industry and job are not shown, you can claim a flat rate expense amount of £60."
A sample of the rates most people are looking for:
| Industry | Job | Flat rate |
|---|---|---|
| Airlines | Pilots, co-pilots, helicopter pilots, uniformed flight deck crew | £1,022 |
| Airlines | Cabin crew | £720 |
| Health and care | Ambulance staff on active service | £185 |
| Health and care | Nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare assistants, radiographers | £125 |
| Health and care | Hospital porters, ward clerks, hospital domestics and catering | £125 |
| Health and care | Laboratory staff, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants | £80 |
| Police force | Ranks up to and including chief inspector | £140 |
| Police force | Community support officers | £140 |
| Building | Joiners and carpenters | £140 |
| Building | All other workers | £120 |
| Wood and furniture | Carpenters, cabinetmakers, joiners, wood carvers | £140 |
| Constructional engineering | Welders, platers, riveters, scaffolders, fitters, erectors | £140 |
| Shipyards | Blacksmiths, boilermakers, plumbers, shipwrights, welders | £140 |
| Vehicles | Builders, railway vehicle repairers, wagon lifters | £140 |
| Trades ancillary to engineering | Motor mechanics in a garage repair shop | £120 |
| Agriculture | All workers | £100 |
| Forestry | All workers | £100 |
| Armed forces | RAF, Royal Marines and army, all ranks | £100 |
| Fire service | Uniformed fire fighters and fire officers | £80 |
| Prisons | Uniformed prison officers | £80 |
| Public transport | Garage hands including cleaners | £80 |
| Public transport | Conductors and drivers | £60 |
| Food | All workers | £60 |
| Any job not listed | - | £60 |
Health and care staff have two extra allowances worth knowing about: £12 for shoes and £6 for tights or stockings, where everyone is required to wear the same colour or style.
Two things to check before you claim. HMRC's instruction is: "If your employer pays towards your expenses, deduct the amount they pay to get the figure you can claim." And the list covers employees of the sector, so a nurse in a private hospital, a local authority or an independent care provider is on the same rate as one in the NHS.
What it is actually worth
This is where expectations need managing. HMRC's own example: "if you claim a flat rate expense of £60 and pay tax at a rate of 20% in that year, you will pay £12 less tax."
| Flat rate | Basic rate, 20% | Higher rate, 40% | Five years at basic rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £60 | £12 | £24 | £60 |
| £80 | £16 | £32 | £80 |
| £125 | £25 | £50 | £125 |
| £140 | £28 | £56 | £140 |
| £185 | £37 | £74 | £185 |
| £720 | £144 | £288 | £720 |
A nurse claiming five years at £125 recovers around £125 in tax. A joiner claiming five years at £140 recovers around £140. Those are real amounts for ten minutes of work, and they are not the four-figure sums some advertising implies.
The claim is also worth making for a reason beyond the cash: once granted, HMRC normally builds the allowance into your tax code, so the relief continues automatically each year without you claiming again.
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Start freeThe backdating window
You can claim, in HMRC's words, "for the current tax year and the 4 previous tax years". As at August 2026:
| Tax year | Claim deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5 April 2027 | Open, closing first |
| 2023/24 | 5 April 2028 | Open |
| 2024/25 | 5 April 2029 | Open |
| 2025/26 | 5 April 2030 | Open |
| 2026/27 | 5 April 2031 | Current year |
The general four-year limit comes from TMA 1970 s43, as set out in HMRC's Self Assessment Claims Manual. You claim all five years in one submission, and you only need to have been in the qualifying job during each year you claim for.
How to claim, in ten minutes
- Find your rate in HMRC's list, or use £60 if your job is not shown.
- Deduct anything your employer contributes towards the same costs.
- Claim online through HMRC's employment expenses service, selecting the years you are claiming. For a flat rate claim, HMRC states you "do not need to send evidence" and should "claim these as 'Uniform, work clothing and tools' within the service".
- Or claim by post on form P87.
- Or, if you file Self Assessment, HMRC's instruction is that you "must claim through your tax return instead", entering the amount in box 18 of the SA102 page.
If you are claiming the actual amount you spent rather than the flat rate, you must send copies of your receipts, and you claim it as "Other expenses" within the service. For most people the flat rate is both simpler and larger.
Check your tax code afterwards
Once granted, the allowance is usually added to your tax code, which raises your tax free pay. Two things follow from that.
First, if you change to a job that does not qualify, the allowance should come out. It often does not, and you then have too much tax free pay and a quiet underpayment building. Second, an unexplained addition in your code is sometimes an old uniform allowance from a job you left years ago.
Run your current code through our free tax code checker to see whether it matches your circumstances, and read what to do about a wrong tax code if it does not.
The rest of the claim
A uniform claim is rarely the only thing available. The same window and the same form cover several other reliefs:
- Tools and union fees, including professional subscriptions to approved bodies
- Working from home tax relief, which is closed for 2026/27 but open for the four previous years
- Am I due a tax rebate? covers the ten common overpayment triggers
- How to claim a tax refund from HMRC picks the right route for each
- Reclaim overpaid tax walks a full four-year recovery end to end
And before you pay anyone a percentage of a £60 claim, read our guide to refund companies and their fees.
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TapTax imports your bank statements, categorises expenses automatically, and submits to HMRC with a tap. Free plan, no card required.
Start freePeople also ask
How much is the uniform tax rebate?
It is a flat rate agreed per job, and £60 a year where your job is not on HMRC's published list. Many trades are higher: joiners and carpenters £140, nurses and other healthcare staff £125, ambulance staff on active service £185, uniformed fire fighters and prison officers £80, cabin crew £720 and pilots £1,022. You receive tax relief on the amount rather than the amount itself, so HMRC's example is that claiming £60 at a 20% tax rate means you pay £12 less tax. Health and care staff can also claim £12 for shoes and £6 for tights or stockings where a uniform colour or style is required.
Can I claim tax back for washing my work uniform?
Yes, if it is a genuine uniform or specialist clothing. HMRC allows relief for "cleaning, repairing or replacing a uniform or specialist clothing", where a uniform is a set of clothing that identifies you as having a certain occupation such as a nurse or police officer, and specialist clothing includes items like overalls or safety boots. You cannot claim for cleaning everyday clothing you wear for work even if your employer requires a certain design or colour, and you cannot claim if your employer provides a free laundering service and you choose not to use it.
How far back can I claim a uniform tax rebate?
HMRC allows a claim for the current tax year and the 4 previous tax years, so as at August 2026 that covers 2022/23 through to 2026/27 in a single submission. The 2022/23 window closes on 5 April 2027 and cannot be reopened. The four-year limit comes from TMA 1970 s43 as set out in HMRC's Self Assessment Claims Manual. You only need to have been in the qualifying job during each year you claim for, and a flat rate claim needs no receipts for any of them.
Do I need receipts to claim a uniform tax rebate?
Not for a flat rate claim. HMRC states that if you claim an agreed fixed amount you "do not need to send evidence", and you select it as "Uniform, work clothing and tools" within the online service. Receipts are only needed if you claim the actual amount you have spent instead, in which case you must send copies of your receipts or other evidence proving you paid for the items, and claim it as "Other expenses". For most employees the flat rate is both simpler and larger than a documented actual claim.
Should I use a company to claim my uniform tax rebate?
You do not need to, and the economics rarely favour it. The claim takes about ten minutes through HMRC's online employment expenses service, needs no receipts for a flat rate, and costs nothing. Refund companies charge a percentage of whatever they recover: RIFT, one of the larger UK firms, publishes a fee of 36% of your refund including VAT with a £60 minimum for a PAYE rebate. On a five-year uniform claim worth around £60 in tax, a minimum fee can absorb the entire amount.