Healthcare workers Tax Rebate

You may be eligible for a healthcare worker tax refund if you work as a midwife, health visitor, healthcare assistant, or other healthcare professional. Certain wardrobe and laundry costs, as well as professional fees such as Trade Union membership, may be eligible for a healthcare worker tax rebate. In certain circumstances, you can claim tax relief for up to four tax years back.

Can I Deduct Professional Fees?

Many professional organisations, including the Royal College of Nursing, the British Medical Association, and Unison, provide tax breaks for members.

A tax rebate claim for professional fees can be backdated for up to four years. Following a tax rebate claim, professional membership fees will be included in your tax code, which means you will pay less tax in the future if you remain a member of that professional body.

Can I Claim Tax Relief for the Cost of Shoes and Tights?

You may be able to claim tax relief for the cost of certain shoes or tights if you are required to wear them at work.

Currently, there is a flat rate of £6 for tights and £12 for shoes per tax year. You can only claim tax relief for shoes and tights purchased for work that you paid for yourself and for which you were not reimbursed by your employer. Generally, you can backdate your claim for up to four years.

What about tax deductions for laundry expenses?

If your employer does not provide washing facilities or laundry vouchers for the clothes you wear at work, you can usually claim tax relief for the cost of laundering your work clothes.

There is a flat rate, which includes laundry costs, paid at different rates depending on the specific job you do in the healthcare sector. For example, plaster room orderlies, hospital porters, ward clerks, sterile supply workers, hospital domestics and hospital catering staff are all entitled to £125 per year as a flat rate work expenses claim.

Tax credits for healthcare workers are available to employees of the NHS, private hospitals, and nursing homes. Generally, you can backdate your claim for up to four tax years.

You can only claim tax relief for laundry costs if you pay for them yourself and wear specialist clothing or uniform for work. If your employer provides laundry facilities at work, you will not be eligible for this tax break.

Can I get a tax deduction for business miles?

If you use your own car for work, you can usually claim tax relief.

This is commonly referred to as business mileage. You cannot claim business mileage for commuting to a single permanent location.

However, you can claim business mileage for travelling between different places of work, such as visiting various clinics or clients’ homes.

HMRC specifies the business mileage rate. This is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile after that in 2019-20. You can backdate a claim for business mileage for up to four tax years, though the rate set for the previous years may be different. If your employer already pays you a portion of this rate, you can still reclaim the difference from HMRC.

If you receive an allowance for mileage from your employer, but this allowance is less than the business mileage rate set by HMRC, you can make a business mileage claim for the difference. If the mileage rate paid by your employer is taxed, you can also claim a rebate for this.

Full details of locations visited, and records of mileage travelled should be provided in support of a business mileage claim. However, if you did not keep these records, you may still be awarded tax relief.

Can I claim Tax Relief for Specialist Equipment?

Tax relief is available for equipment, tools, and assets purchased for use in the Health Sector. This could be a laptop computer or a desk. You cannot claim for equipment provided by your employer or if you were reimbursed for the purchase if it was purchased specifically for you to complete your job.

You can claim capital allowances for equipment, tools, and assets purchased for professional use. For all capital allowance claims, you must provide a receipt or proof of purchase. Capital allowance rules usually apply to items purchased for professional use if they are expected to last two or more years.