Uniform and work-clothing tax relief

HMRC sets a fixed yearly allowance for people who have to keep their own work clothing clean, mended and replaced. It is not a payment. It comes off your taxable income, so what reaches you is the allowance multiplied by your tax rate: HMRC's own example is £60 claimed at 20%, which is £12 less tax. The allowance runs from £60 for a job the list does not name up to £1,022 for flight deck crew, with nurses on £125, police officers on £140 and ambulance staff on £185. You can go back four tax years as well as claiming this one, and doing it yourself on gov.uk costs nothing.

By Andrey · Updated August 2026 · 8 min read

A neatly folded plain navy work shirt and apron stacked on a wooden chair.

What the allowance is

If your job requires a recognisable uniform or specialised work clothing, and keeping it clean, mended and replaced falls to you, HMRC lets you take a fixed amount off your taxable income every year. The amount depends on your industry and job, and HMRC publishes the whole list.

There is no need to keep receipts and nothing to prove. The figure stands in for what the job typically costs, which is why it is fixed rather than worked out from what you spent.

Where HMRC does not name your industry and job, the fallback is £60 a year.

At a glance

If your job is not listed: £60 a year, £12 back at basic rate
Nurses and care workers: £125 a year, £25 back
Police officers, joiners: £140 a year, £28 back
Ambulance staff: £185 a year, £37 back
Flight deck crew: £1,022 a year, £204.40 back
Backdate: This year plus four

What it is worth in cash

This is the part the adverts skip. The allowance is a deduction, not a cheque. HMRC puts it plainly: claim £60 at a 20% tax rate and you pay £12 less tax.

So a £140 allowance is not £140. At the basic rate it is £28 a year. Across a first claim covering this tax year and the four still open, it is £140 in total, which is the number that confuses people: five years of a £140 allowance happens to come to the same figure as one year of the allowance itself.

Cash value of the main flat-rate allowances at each rest-of-UK income tax rate, 2026/27
Allowance	Basic rate 20%	Higher rate 40%	Additional rate 45%
£60	£12	£24	£27
£80	£16	£32	£36
£100	£20	£40	£45
£120	£24	£48	£54
£125	£25	£50	£56.25
£140	£28	£56	£63
£185	£37	£74	£83.25
£720	£144	£288	£324
£1,022	£204.40	£408.80	£459.90

Cash relief per year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27. Scottish rates differ, see below.

If you live in Scotland the bands are different, and two of the gaps matter. A Scottish higher-rate taxpayer gets 42% of the allowance rather than 40%, and there is an intermediate band at 21% with no equivalent in the rest of the UK. Where you live decides which set applies, not where you work.

Scottish income tax bands for 2026/27 and the cash value of a £125 allowance at each
Scottish band	Income	£60 allowance	£125 allowance
Starter rate 19%	£12,571 to £16,537	£11.40	£23.75
Basic rate 20%	£16,538 to £29,526	£12	£25
Intermediate rate 21%	£29,527 to £43,662	£12.60	£26.25
Higher rate 42%	£43,663 to £75,000	£25.20	£52.50
Advanced rate 45%	£75,001 to £125,140	£27	£56.25
Top rate 48%	Over £125,140	£28.80	£60

Scottish rates for 2026/27, from gov.uk.

Who qualifies

You are an employee paid through PAYE. If you are self-employed you deduct your real costs through Self Assessment instead, and this is not your route.
You wear something a person in the street would recognise as a uniform, or clothing specialised enough that it is clearly work clothing. HMRC gives traditional nurse and police uniforms as its examples. Counter staff in corporate colours are its example of what does not count.
You pay to keep it going: washing, repairing or replacing it out of your own pocket.
Your employer does not do it for you. If your employer pays all of your expenses there is nothing to claim, and a free laundering service you choose not to use counts against you too.

Find your job

Twenty-two jobs have a page of their own, with the cash figure at every tax rate, HMRC's exact wording for the role, and the reason claims in that job most often fail.

Nurses£125 Healthcare assistants£125 Care workers£125 NHS staff£125 Paramedics and ambulance staff£185 Pharmacists£80 Hospital porters£125 Police officers£140 Firefighters£80 Prison officers£80 Armed forces personnel£100 Mechanics£120 Construction workers£120 Joiners and carpenters£140 Plumbers£120 Electricians£120 Welders£140 Pilots and flight deck crew£1,022 Cabin crew£720 Teachers£60 Chefs and catering staff£60 Agricultural workers£100

All 83 occupations

HMRC's complete list, grouped the way HMRC groups it: by industry first, then by job. The wording is HMRC's own and is reproduced unedited, because the wording is what decides which row you are on.

Most of these amounts have been fixed since the 2008 to 2009 tax year. The health and care rates have applied since April 2014, and the two airline rates since 2013 to 2014.

HMRC flat-rate expense allowances for uniforms, work clothing and tools: all 83 occupations by industry, with the yearly amount and its cash value at the basic rate
Industry	Job	A year	Basic rate cash
Agriculture	All workers Agricultural workers →	£100	£20
Airlines	Pilots, co-pilots, helicopter pilots and uniformed flight deck crew Pilots and flight deck crew →	£1,022	£204.40
Airlines	Cabin crew · stewards and stewardesses Cabin crew →	£720	£144
Aluminium	Continual casting operators, process operators, de-dimplers, driers, drill punchers, dross unloaders, firemen (engaged to light and maintain furnaces), furnace operators and their helpers, leaders, mould-men, pourers, remelt department labourers and roll flatteners	£140	£28
Aluminium	Cable hands, case makers, labourers, mates, truck drivers and measurers and storekeepers	£80	£16
Aluminium	Apprentices	£60	£12
Aluminium	All other workers	£120	£24
Armed forces	All ranks in the Royal Air Force, Royal Marines and the army Armed forces personnel →	£100	£20
Armed forces	Royal Navy	£80	£16
Banks and building societies	Uniformed doormen and messengers	£60	£12
Brass and copper	Braziers, coppersmiths, finishers, fitters, moulders, turners and all other workers	£120	£24
Building	Joiners and carpenters Joiners and carpenters →	£140	£28
Building	Cement works, roofing felt and asphalt labourers	£80	£16
Building	Labourers and navvies	£60	£12
Building	All other workers Construction workers →	£120	£24
Building materials	Stone masons	£120	£24
Building materials	Tilemakers and labourers	£60	£12
Building materials	All other workers	£80	£16
Clothing	Lacemakers, hosiery bleachers, dyers, scourers and knitters, knitwear bleachers and dyers	£60	£12
Clothing	All other workers	£60	£12
Constructional engineering (includes buildings, shipyards, bridges and roads)	Blacksmiths and their strikers, burners, caulkers, chippers, drillers, erectors, fitters, holders up, markers off, platers, riggers, riveters, rivet heaters, scaffolders, sheeters, template workers, turners and welders Welders →	£140	£28
Constructional engineering (includes buildings, shipyards, bridges and roads)	Banksmen, labourers, shop-helpers, slewers and straighteners	£80	£16
Constructional engineering (includes buildings, shipyards, bridges and roads)	Apprentices and storekeepers	£60	£12
Constructional engineering (includes buildings, shipyards, bridges and roads)	All other workers	£100	£20
Electrical and electricity supply	Workers incurring laundry costs only	£60	£12
Electrical and electricity supply	All other workers Electricians →	£120	£24
Trades ancillary to engineering	Pattern makers	£140	£28
Trades ancillary to engineering	Labourers, supervisory and unskilled workers	£80	£16
Trades ancillary to engineering	Apprentices and storekeepers	£60	£12
Trades ancillary to engineering	Motor mechanics in garage repair shop Mechanics →	£120	£24
Trades ancillary to engineering	All other workers	£120	£24
Fire service	Uniformed fire fighters and fire officers Firefighters →	£80	£16
Food	All workers Chefs and catering staff →	£60	£12
Forestry	All workers	£100	£20
Glass	All workers	£80	£16
Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers	Ambulance staff on active service Paramedics and ambulance staff →	£185	£37
Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers	Nurses, midwives, chiropodists, dental nurses, occupational, speech, physiotherapists and other therapists, healthcare assistants, domiciliary care workers, phlebotomists, radiographers and healthcare scientists Nurses →	£125	£25
Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers	Plaster room orderlies, hospital porters, ward clerks, sterile supply workers, hospital domestics and hospital catering staff Hospital porters →	£125	£25
Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers	Laboratory staff, pharmacists and pharmacy assistants Pharmacists →	£80	£16
Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers	Uniformed ancillary staff · maintenance workers, grounds staff, drivers, parking attendants and security guards, receptionists and other uniformed staff	£80	£16
Heating	Pipe fitters and plumbers Plumbers →	£120	£24
Heating	Coverers, laggers, domestic glaziers, heating engineers and all their mates	£120	£24
Heating	All gas workers and all other workers	£100	£20
Iron mining	Fillers, miners and underground workers	£120	£24
Iron mining	All other workers	£100	£20
Iron and steel	Day labourers, general labourers, stockmen, timekeepers, warehouse staff and weighmen	£80	£16
Iron and steel	Apprentices	£60	£12
Iron and steel	All other workers	£140	£28
Leather	Curriers (wet workers), fellmongering workers and tanning operatives (wet)	£80	£16
Leather	All other workers	£60	£12
Particular engineering (work on commercial basis in a factory or workshop producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks)	Pattern makers	£140	£28
Particular engineering (work on commercial basis in a factory or workshop producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks)	Chainmakers, cleaners, galvanisers, tinners and wire drawers in the wire drawing industry and toolmakers in the lock making industry	£120	£24
Particular engineering (work on commercial basis in a factory or workshop producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks)	Apprentices and storekeepers	£60	£12
Particular engineering (work on commercial basis in a factory or workshop producing components such as wire, springs, nails and locks)	All other workers	£80	£16
Police force	Ranks of police officers up to and including chief inspector Police officers →	£140	£28
Police force	Community support officers including Metropolitan Police	£140	£28
Police force	Other police employees (but not special constables)	£60	£12
Precious metals	All workers	£100	£20
Printing	Letterpress section · electrical engineers (rotary presses), electrotypers, ink and roller makers, machine minders (rotary), maintenance engineers (rotary presses) and stereotypers	£140	£28
Printing	Bench hands (periodical and bookbinding section), compositors (letterpress section), readers (letterpress section) telecommunications and electronic section wire room operators, warehousemen (paper box making section)	£60	£12
Printing	All other workers	£100	£20
Prisons	Uniformed prison officers Prison officers →	£80	£16
Public service · docks and inland waterways	Dockers, dredger drivers and hopper steerers	£80	£16
Public service · docks and inland waterways	All other workers	£60	£12
Public service · public transport	Garage hands including cleaners	£80	£16
Public service · public transport	Conductors and drivers	£60	£12
Quarrying	All workers	£100	£20
Railways	See the appropriate category for craftsmen (for example engineers, vehicles) all other workers	£100	£20
Seamen	Carpenters · Passenger liners	£165	£33
Seamen	Cargo vessels, tankers, coasters and ferries	£140	£28
Shipyards	Blacksmiths and their strikers, boilermakers, burners, carpenters, caulkers, drillers, furnacemen (platers) holders up, fitters, platers, plumbers, riveters, sheet iron workers, shipwrights, tubers and welders	£140	£28
Shipyards	Labourers	£80	£16
Shipyards	Apprentices and storekeepers	£60	£12
Shipyards	All other workers	£100	£20
Textiles and textile printing	Carders, carding engineers, overlookers and technicians in spinning mills	£120	£24
Textiles and textile printing	All other workers	£80	£16
Vehicles	Builders, railway vehicle repairers and railway wagon lifters	£140	£28
Vehicles	Railway vehicle painters, letterers, and builders' and repairers' assistants	£80	£16
Vehicles	All other workers	£60	£12
Wood and furniture	Carpenters, cabinetmakers, joiners, wood carvers and woodcutting machinists	£140	£28
Wood and furniture	Artificial limb makers (other than in wood), organ builders and packaging case makers	£120	£24
Wood and furniture	Coopers not providing their own tools, labourers, polishers and upholsterers	£60	£12
Wood and furniture	All other workers	£100	£20
Any industry not listed above	Any job not listed above	£60	£12

83 rows, transcribed from HMRC's job expenses for uniforms, work clothing and tools, last updated 14 November 2024. Cash column is the basic rate of 20% for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. HMRC lists a small separate shoes and stockings or tights allowance alongside the health and care row for nurses and similar staff. The underlying rules sit in the employment income manual at EIM32712 and EIM32475, and in section 367 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

How to claim it yourself

For a total under £2,500 in a tax year, the quickest route is HMRC's online service for job expenses:

Open claim tax relief for your job expenses on gov.uk and sign in.
Choose uniforms, work clothing and tools.
Give your industry and job so HMRC can apply the right amount from its list.
Tick every tax year you were doing that job, back to 2022/23.

If you would rather not do it online, the postal route is form P87, and HMRC rejects postal claims that use anything else. If the total for a year comes to more than £2,500 you have to use a Self Assessment return instead, and if you already file one you claim through that whatever the amount.

HMRC changes your tax code for the current year, so that part arrives as slightly more take-home pay rather than as a lump sum. Earlier years come back separately.

Backdating four years

You can claim for the current tax year and the four before it. As things stand that means 2026/27 plus 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26, so 5 years in one go for a first claim. The oldest of them closes on 5 April 2027.

A nurse claiming for the first time is looking at £125 at the basic rate. Flight deck crew, on the largest allowance in the table, are looking at £1,022 at the basic rate and £2,044 at the higher rate. It is the same short form either way.

What the refund firms cost

Search for this relief and the first page is mostly companies offering to claim it for you for a share of the money. HMRC runs a campaign page about that, with a worked example about a uniform refund company.

A healthcare worker uses a refund company's calculator, which tells him he can claim £200. The company takes £80 of the £200 in fees. A year later HMRC tells him he was not eligible for what was claimed on his behalf, and that he owes the full £200 back, with interest.

HMRC's own words on the same page: if you are eligible, you keep 100% of the money when you claim direct, and it is fast, free and simple to do.

Two protections came in after this became a widespread problem, and both are worth knowing. Since 15 March 2023 you cannot legally assign an income tax repayment to a third party, so the repayment stays yours and HMRC pays it to you. And since October 2023 a firm that charges to submit repayment claims and wants the money sent to it has to be registered with HMRC for an agent services account.

None of that changes the fee. The point of the arithmetic further up this page is that on an allowance worth £25 a year, a share of the refund is a large share of a small number. HMRC's page on this takes two minutes to read.

The traps people fall into

Treating the allowance as cash. A £140 allowance is £28 at the basic rate. Any calculator quoting the allowance itself as your refund is quoting the wrong number.
Claiming for smart clothes. A plain shirt and trousers your employer asks you to wear is not a uniform, even if everyone wears the same colour. A permanent, conspicuous badge can change that. A detachable one cannot.
Forgetting what the employer already does. Free laundering, free replacements or a laundry allowance all mean the cost was never yours.
Picking a higher row because the title sounds close. The rows are specific, and the wording is what decides them. A wrong row is a claim that can be unwound years later, with interest.
Leaving a stale allowance in your tax code. It carries forward on its own, which is convenient until you change to a job it does not apply to.

How Untap helps

The arithmetic on this page is the easy part. What takes the time is working out which row your job is on, which years you were actually doing it, and what the total comes to across all of them. Untap asks, works it out, and points you at the gov.uk form.

Your professional body subscription or union fee is a separate relief with its own rules, and for a lot of jobs it is the bigger of the two. That one is here.

← Back to all guides

Questions readers ask

My uniform is just a branded polo shirt. Does that count?

It counts if a person in the street would recognise it as a uniform. HMRC allows a permanent and conspicuous badge to turn otherwise ordinary clothing into a uniform, but a detachable badge is not enough, and clothing that is merely a shared design or colour is not a uniform however strict the dress code is.

My employer launders my uniform. Can I still claim?

No. The allowance covers costs you have borne. If your employer launders it, replaces it free or pays you a laundry allowance, you have not paid for anything. The same applies if a free laundering service is available and you choose not to use it.

My job is not on the list. Can I still get something?

Yes. HMRC's rule is that where your industry and job are not shown, you can claim £60 a year, which is £12 back at the basic rate. You still have to actually wear a recognisable uniform or specialised work clothing and pay to keep it going.

Do I have to apply every year?

Usually not. Once HMRC has it, the allowance goes into your tax code and carries forward. It is worth checking your code still looks right after a job change, because an allowance for work you no longer do is one you will be asked to repay.

Can I claim what I actually spent instead?

Yes, and there is nothing stopping you asking for the real figure in any year. The trade-off is evidence: the fixed allowance needs none at all, while a claim for actual costs has to be backed by receipts for everything in it.

Should I use a uniform tax refund firm?

You do not need one. Claiming direct on gov.uk is free and takes minutes, and since March 2023 nobody can legally sign your income tax repayment over to a third party, so the money is paid to you either way.

Check if you can get money back

Check your uniform allowance

Free with a sign-in, and we take no percentage. The wizard checks the rules against your situation; the claim itself stays with you.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Read the scheme's own rules before sending a claim. If a number here looks wrong, tell us and we will correct it: how we handle corrections.