Work expenses

Paid for things your job needs? Claim the tax back with a P87

If you are employed and paid for something you had to have for the job that your employer did not repay, you get tax relief on the cost: the expense is taken off your taxable pay, so you get back 20%, 40% or 45% of it depending on your rate. Claims of up to £2,500 a year go on form P87, online or by post, for the current year and the 4 before it. Above £2,500 the same figures go on a Self Assessment tax return. This page says what counts, works out your claim, and walks through the P87 box by box.

What you can claim

Business mileage in your own vehicle

Journeys for work other than commuting to your normal workplace: £0.45 a mile for the first 10,000 miles in the tax year and £0.25 after that, less anything your employer paid you per mile. Keep a log of dates, journeys and miles.

Uniform, work clothing and tools

A flat rate for washing, repairing or replacing a uniform or protective clothing and buying small tools: £60 a year for most jobs, more for some trades on HMRC’s list. No receipts needed. Ordinary clothes you could wear outside work never count, even if the job requires a suit.

Professional fees and subscriptions

Annual fees to a professional body or union on HMRC’s approved list, where you need the membership to do the job or it is relevant to it. Not life membership, and not the social side.

Working from home

£6 a week (£312 a year) without receipts, or the actual extra cost with them, but only for weeks your employer required you to work from home because there was no office or the job demands it. Choosing to work from home does not qualify.

Travel and overnight costs

Fares, hotels and meals when you travel to a temporary workplace or on a work trip, if your employer did not repay them. Travel to your permanent workplace is commuting and never counts.

Other things bought for the job

Safety boots, small equipment, a required training course: anything you paid for that is used wholly and necessarily for the job and the employer did not provide. Describe each item and keep the receipts.

What you cannot claim

Commuting

Getting to and from your normal workplace, however far, by whatever means. Only journeys beyond that count.

Expenses the employer repaid

If your employer paid you back, there is nothing to claim. If they paid part, claim the shortfall.

Over £2,500 a year

The P87 cannot be used. The same expenses go in boxes 17 to 20 of the employment page of a Self Assessment return, and you must register for Self Assessment if you are not already in it.

Work out your claim

Enter your pay and the expenses by type. We show the total claim, whether it goes on a P87 or a tax return (the limit is £2,500), and the tax it saves at your rate. Then the P87 is mapped box by box with your figures.

Your figures

Tax yearWhere you live

Your pay for the year, before tax

From your P60 or latest payslip. Used only to work out what rate of tax the relief saves.

Flat rate for uniform, work clothing or tools

£60 for most uniforms; check HMRC’s list for your trade. Leave blank if you have no uniform or tools to look after.

Business miles in your own vehicle

Not commuting. £0.45 a mile for the first 10,000 miles, £0.25 after that.

Mileage payments from your employer

Anything paid to you for those miles. Leave blank if none.

Professional fees and subscriptions

To a body on HMRC’s approved list.

Travel and overnight costs not repaid

Fares, hotels and meals on work journeys away from your normal workplace.

Weeks you were required to work from home

£6 a week, up to £312 for a full year. Only weeks the employer required it.

Other expenses

Anything else bought wholly and necessarily for the job.

Enter at least one expense to see the claim and where it goes.

The P87, box by box

Every screen of the online claim, with what goes in each box, or shown as it looks on GOV.UK. The printed form has the same boxes in the same order.

Done online

Form P87: claim tax relief for work expenses

For expenses of up to £2,500 a year that your employer did not repay. Online it is one sign-in and five screens; the printed form has the same boxes. One claim per employer per tax year, and you can go back four years.

Fill in the calculator above and the expense boxes are filled in here.

Every box can be typed into, here or on the redrawn screens, and what you type stays in the box while you read the rest.

Show the pages as

Screen 1 of 4

About you and the years you are claiming for

Your details and the tax year the expenses were paid in. One claim covers one tax year; the online service lets you add another year afterwards.

Section
Full name
As HMRC has it. If you have changed your name, update HMRC first or the claim can be held up.
From your records
Section
National Insurance number
Two letters, six numbers, one letter, for example QQ 12 34 56 C. On payslips, your P60 and HMRC letters.
From your records
Section
Date of birth
Used with your National Insurance number to find your record.
From your records
Section
Address and postcode
Where HMRC should write to you. Online, the address on your record is shown and you can update it.
From your records
Section
Tax year you are claiming for
The year the expenses were paid in, 6 April to 5 April. You can claim for the current year and the four before it; each year is a separate claim.
From your records

Screen 2 of 4

Your employer

The job the expenses relate to. The PAYE reference is on your payslip or P60 and tells HMRC which employer record to adjust.

Section
Employer’s name
As on your payslip. One claim per employer; if you had two jobs with expenses, make two claims.
From your records
Section
Employer’s PAYE reference
On your payslip or P60, in the form 123/AB456.
From your records
Section
Payroll or employee number
Optional; it helps HMRC match a large employer’s records.
From your records
Section
You were a director of the company
Put X only if you were a company director. Most employees leave it empty.
Put X
Ticked

Screen 3 of 4

Your expenses

Each type of expense in its own box, for the tax year, less anything your employer paid back. If the total is over £2,500 you cannot use the P87: the same figures go on the employment page of a Self Assessment return instead.

Section
Flat rate expenses for uniform, work clothing and tools
The fixed yearly amount for your job from HMRC’s list: £60 for most uniforms, more for some trades. No receipts needed. Enter it even if you spent less; you cannot also claim the actual cost.
From your records
£
Section
Business miles in your own vehicle
Journeys for work other than ordinary commuting. HMRC allows 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p after that; the service works out the amount from the miles.
From your records
Section
Mileage payments from your employer
Anything your employer paid you for those miles. It is taken off the allowance; only the shortfall is relief.
From your records
£
Section
Professional fees and subscriptions
Fees to a professional body or union on HMRC’s approved list, where membership is required or relevant to the job. Not the social side of a membership.
From your records
£
Section
Travel and overnight expenses
Fares, hotels and meals on work journeys away from your normal workplace that your employer did not repay. Keep the receipts.
From your records
£
Section
Working from home
£6 a week (£312 a year) without receipts, but only for weeks your employer required you to work from home. Choosing to does not qualify.
From your records
£
Section
Other expenses
Anything else bought wholly and necessarily for the job that the employer did not provide: small tools, safety boots, a required course. Describe each item.
From your records
£
Section
Attach your evidence
Receipts, a mileage log and your employer’s confirmation of any requirement to work from home. HMRC asks for evidence with most claims since 2024; flat rate claims need none.
Put X
Ticked

Screen 4 of 4

Declaration and submit

Read the summary, confirm the figures are correct to the best of your knowledge, and submit. Online you get a confirmation reference at once; keep it.

Section
The information I have given is correct and complete to the best of my knowledge
Put X. Online this is a tick box before the submit button.
Put X
Ticked
Section
Signature and date
On the printed form only. Online, submitting is the signature.
From your records

What happens after you submit

For the current tax year HMRC adds the expenses to your tax code, so you pay less each payday from the next one. For earlier years HMRC sends a P800 calculation and pays the refund to your bank or by cheque, usually within a few weeks. Keep the receipts and mileage log for four years; HMRC now asks for evidence with most claims.

Claim tax relief for your job expenses (GOV.UK)

What happens next

For the current tax year HMRC puts the expenses into your tax code, so less tax is taken from your next paydays. Check the next payslip: the code should have gone up.
For earlier years HMRC sends a P800 calculation and pays the refund to your bank, or by cheque, usually within a few weeks.
HMRC asks for evidence with most claims: receipts, a mileage log, and your employer’s confirmation if you claim for working from home. Keep them for four years after the claim.
Once an expense is in your tax code, HMRC usually keeps it there in later years. If the job changes or the expense stops, tell HMRC or you will underpay.

Claim tax relief for your job expenses (GOV.UK)Flat rate expenses for uniforms, work clothing and tools (GOV.UK)Approved mileage rates for using your own vehicle (GOV.UK)Claim tax relief for working from home (GOV.UK)Claiming tax relief for job expenses (GOV.UK)

Every other refund routeStopped work, overpaid on a P800, pension lump sums, savings interest: which form gets it back.Find your route Expenses over £2,500The employment page of the return, box by box, with the expenses in boxes 17 to 20.Open the walkthrough Decode your tax codeSee the expenses in your code after the claim, and check the rest of it while you are there.Decode my tax code