One evening this week i am going to sit down and start the affair of claiming tax relief on work expenses. i have three years worth of it to do including probably about £3500 worth of tools and about 6,000 miles worth of driving expenses, which at 45p a mile is certainly worth doing. (i think) im using the P87 Form 'Tax relief for expenses of employment' i have to do one for each year i believe. this form is on the HMRC website, i was going to get a company to do it but the cheapest i could find was 20% +VAT of my final settlement so i thought id give it a whirl myself if it comes down to it and i make a complete hash of it ill cancel it wait a week and the let a company take some of my money ad do it for me... has anyone done this in the past and could pass on any wise words of wisdom?

I used to claim mileage, my tip would be call them they are very helpful if you get stuck.

I claim mileage and work expenses plus the night out money.

No idea how it works as my accountant sorts all that and my PAYE out..

I used to do some self employed work and employed an accountant to do my tax return and annual return. I provided all the information and they sorted it all out and the most it cost me was £150. Well worth them doing it as the things they found to my advantage was well worth the money. That same money turned my wifes part time business into a taxable loss which for some reason transferred to my tax bill. No I don't understand either but well worth using the local paid expert.

I made a claim for tax relief a few years ago on behalf of my son who was a garage apprentice for tools purchased. I can't recall the forms involved but it was fairly straight forward, it was also backdated 5 years. If I could do it i'm sure you can!

im actually looking forward to completing the forms and getting some money back, us mechanics dont get paid loads of still provide £1000's worth of tools.

I would be intersted in the form details for claiming money back on tools brought for work its something ive been meaning t do for a while now.

Carl

https://public-online.hmrc.gov.uk/lc/content/xfaforms/profiles/forms.html?contentRoot=repository:///Applications/BusinessTax_iForms/1.0&template=P 87_en_1.04.xdp

this is the link... only trouble is its an online one and cant be printed, you just have to gather the right info before you start... you do not need to provide copies of the receipts it would appear, they may ask for proof later on. only reason i havnt filled it in today is that i do not know my 'Employer Number' and i need to sit down and work out the money side of how much i need to claim for.

also there isn't a specific page for 'Tools' but there is a page for all 'Other expenses' where im guessing you just write 'Hand Tools for my job' ad then the amount you wish to claim.

hope this helps you a little

Hi, Yeah I did it a few years back and its due again.

Give them a call and confirm the number of years you can go back.

I was only claiming for my petrol. My work pays me 25p per mile
but I was allowed to make up the difference up to 40p.

My company makes us fill out spreadsheets with date, start, finish,
miles and reason for travel.

I just filled out the form and attached all the copies of the my monthly claim forms.

Note : In my case its just 15p per mile but remember its the tax relief on the 15p.

So if you do 6000 miles x 0.15 = £900
But then its the 25% of £900 (22-25% needs checked)

So you get £225

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Steve