HMRC have the following advice to offer:
“You may be able to claim tax relief if you have to use your own money for travel or things that you must buy for your job. You must have paid tax in the year you spent the money. How much you can claim depends on the rate you pay tax.
You can only claim relief on things that are used just for your work, and which you don’t use in your private life.
You can’t claim relief on things you’ve spent money on if your employer has already provided you with an alternative.
You must keep records of what you’ve spent, and claim within 4 years of the end of the tax year that you spent the money. If your employer has paid back your expenses, you can’t claim tax relief.”
Expenses that you may incur and that you can claim back include:
- Uniforms, work clothing and tools.
- A mileage allowance for the use of your own car on business trips (but not home to work mileage).
- If you have a company car but you have incurred running costs that your employer has not reimbursed, then you may be able to make a claim.
- You may be able to reclaim business travel expenses that have not been reimbursed. For example:
- Public transport
- Hotel accommodation
- Food and drink
- Congestion charges and tolls
- Parking fees
- Business phone calls
- You may also be able to claim for the cost of approved professional fees and subscriptions.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. And if you feel that you may have a claim we would be happy to advise.
HMRC seem to be developing a sense of humour. This is a list of failed claims for expenses that they recently published on their website:
