Joiners tax refund guide
You shell out a lot for tools and travel in a year, don’t you?
With travel costs only increasing and essential equipment costs ranging from nearly a tenner for a pack of Blackedge pencils to an average of £150 for a bandsaw, that total really mounts up.
The good news is you are allowed to claim back tax relief on the cost of tools and travel to temporary sites.
But this money will not just be worked out and given back to you by the tax office; you must make an official claim under PAYE or on your self assessment tax return if you are self employed.
Extra good news…you can make a claim going back for the last four years.
What expenses can a Joiner claim a tax rebate for?
We have detailed below a number of the most common expenses incurred by a joiner at work under PAYE:
- All tools used for work. You can use our tool calculator to work out how much you are owed.
- Buying and laundering protective health and safety clothing like boots.
- Mileage Rebate. It’s normal for a joiner to use their own car or van to get to different sites. You are entitled to claim for mileage to a temporary place, or places, of work in your own vehicle. The government class a ‘temporary’ place of work as one which you go to for up to 2 years – so most building sites then!
- Accommodation and ‘subsistence’ (food) costs while working away from home at a temporary workplace.
Do you need receipts to make a Joiner tax rebate claim?
You might need records depending on what you are claiming for. For example if you are claiming for mileage because you use your own car records of where you worked, when you worked there and what you got paid (this includes your work diary and payslips) will usually be needed.
Other things that have variable costs will also need receipt evidence for HMRC but it’s never too late to start keeping records.
How do I claim a Joiners tax rebate?
To make a claim worth less than £2500 as an employed joiner under PAYE a form P87 should be submitted. The P87 can completed online and posted to HMRC or submitted online.
For a claim worth £2500 or more a self assessment tax return should be completed and submitted online or by post.
