4 Min. Read

How to Use P87 HMRC Form to Claim Tax Relief?

March 15, 2024

If you need to cover uniform costs, mileage and travel, you could be entitled to tax relief. Learn about the P87 HMRC form here

Being an employee of certain establishments can be costly. You have a uniform, tools, travel, subscription and more. Sometimes the company will cover you but sometimes they won’t.

Regardless of whether you can get partial reimbursement or not, it is worth filling out a P87 HMRC form, especially if you’re exploring options like “working from home tax relief.”

Simply put, the P87 is an expense tax relief form. It serves to request tax relief on the expenses you’ve made as an employee of a company. In this article, we’ll show you how to qualify, what the cap amounts are and how to use the form. Tax accounting doesn’t need to be complicated – you’re safe with us.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

Who Qualifies For a P87 HMRC Form

What Expenses Qualify For Tax Relief?

How to Use The P87 HMRC Form

How Much Tax Relief Can Your Reclaim On Expenses

Key Takeaways

Who Qualifies For a P87 HMRC Form

You can qualify to claim tax relief on expenses if:

You are an employed individual. You are not self-employed
You haven’t submitted a self assessment tax return form for the previous tax year
Your expenses are work-related
Your expenses are worth less than £2500

What Expenses Qualify For Tax Relief?

Clothing and uniforms required for work
Meals on business trips
Hotel costs for business trips
Transport for business trips e.g parking, tolls and public transport
Mileage and fuel costs if you have your own car. Your commute from work to home does not count.
Fuel costs if you are using a company car
Subscriptions required for work. Particularly relevant if you work from home
Cleaning, replacement and repair of tools and clothing that you need to do your work.

How to Use The P87 HMRC Form

The first thing to note before you start filling in your P87 is that only unreimbursed expenses count. Partial reimbursements also count. So if your employer pays you less for mileage than the full government allowance, you can claim tax relief on the difference.

To start your application, you will need:

Your National Insurance Number
Your employee number (which you can find on your payslip)
Your employer’s PAYE number (this is also on your payslip)
The receipts and records of your allowable expenses
Any records or receipts of your employer’s contributions to your expenses

If you have never claimed tax relief for expenses before, you can only do it online.

You can claim for up to 5 different jobs and for multiple tax years.

If you want to claim for more than 5 different jobs, you’ll need to submit your form via post.

To start your claim, head to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-income-tax-relief-for-your-employment-expenses-p87
From there, click “claim online”
You will be prompted to fill in your Government Gateway details if you have them. Alternatively, you can sign up for a Government Gateway login. Keep these safe as they’ll be useful in future.
You’ll have a screen to upload your expenses with receipts and records.
Follow the instructions to submit the form and the HMRC will review your application.

After you have done the P87 form online for one tax year, you can do it over the phone in future.

However, to claim by phone you can only claim up to £1000 or £25000 on professional fees and subscriptions. Otherwise, you’ll still need to claim via the online service. Claiming online is slightly easier anyway. It’s certainly quicker.

How Much Tax Relief Can Your Reclaim On Expenses

The HMRC calculates tax relief on a case by case basis. On cleaning and repair expenses you can claim the flat rate. The flat rate is a standard rate set every tax year by the HMRC. At the moment, the flat tax relief rate is 20%.

You can claim a total deduction depending on the industry you are in. The amounts vary so do consult the HMRC website to check.

Outside of the standard tax relief rates, most of your expense relief will depend on your tax rate. Essentially, how much are you taxed at the moment? You can tell this from your tax code. That will determine what relief you qualify for.