A new year brings about many things but one of the most beneficial is the new tax breaks that come with it! But it’s easy to miss these tax breaks and the savings they could give you, but don’t worry with our helpful guide below you can be sure that you’ll know about all the tax breaks for the coming tax year.
Marriage Tax Breaks
Introduced in April 2015 this tax break allows couples to transfer money to their partner, saving them money on income tax. So how does it work? This tax break is for married couples, in which one person doesn’t pay tax due to their income being less than the current level of personal allowance.
The amount you receive will depend on the tax year of the claim with it being linked to the tax free personal allowance. Whether your partner is retired, working part time or on a break they can still utilize the tax break and it is available to civil partnerships as well.
Travel Breaks
Travel expenses include much more than fuel it can also cover food, overnight accommodation and much more. However, there are conditions that have to be met, if you have to travel for work to a business meeting for example then you can claim any money you’ve had to spend on travel expenses back. Many PAYE tax payers assume that they can’t claim for work expenses and miss out on valuable tax relief on their travel costs.
However, these have to be realistic expenses, for example, while you can claim back on the cost of a meal you can’t just go and dine out at a gourmet restaurant. Things like parking fees, congestion charges, business calls and some other general expenses are all covered.
Subscription Fees
In theory, subscription fees could cover a huge variety of different fees whether it’s a subscription to a magazine or a professional membership body. But HMRC has been a little more precise and compiled a huge array of approved professional organizations and learned societies that you can claim tax relief on.
However, in order to qualify for a tax break, you have to prove that your subscription is needed in order for you to do your job. This could be a simple straight forward process or potentially more difficult, depending on your occupation and subscription. So make sure you take this into account before applying for tax relief.
Uniforms and Equipment Tax Breaks
The process of reclaiming tax relief for uniforms and equipment costs can differ depending on the item you have bought and duties of employment. As a general guideline you can claim tax back on uniform and equipment costs if they a vital to your work. For example this could be a lab coat for a scientist or tools bought by an HGV mechanic.
The way in which you claim will vary dependent on the type of expenses being reclaimed. For claims over £2500, you will only be able to use a self-assessment tax return.
