How much can you claim for laundry expenses if you're self employed?

How much can be claimed for your laundry expenses, and if in fact you are able to claim at all for these costs, are dependent on a number of factors such as your working circumstances and indeed what type of clothes you are washing that you want to claim the tax relief on!

To help you establish if you are able to claim this cost, we have outlined some of these considerations below:

What type of clothing is it?

The first factor to be considered is the type of clothing you are required to wear in order to provide your services. Unfortunately, HMRC do not allow laundry expense claims where the clothing worn does not also fall in line with what can be claimed as a self employed expense. With that being the case, we must then look at what HMRC deem as an allowable clothing expense when self employed in relation to the clothing itself:

Uniform

HMRC define a uniform as “a set of clothing of a specialised nature that is recognisable as a uniform and is intended to identify its wearer as having a particular occupation”. For those that are self employed, this definition of what a uniform is could fit the description of a CIS contractor working within the construction industry for example, or a self employed beautician or hairdresser. That being said, HMRC may also accept that ordinary clothing with a permanent badge could be considered as a uniform. However this is very much on a case by case basis, with the essential test being whether you would be readily recognised as wearing a uniform by another individual in the street. If you are not sure whether your clothing would be defined automatically as a uniform, we would always recommend seeking professional guidance so that you can feel safe in the knowledge that you are not claiming incorrectly.

Protective Clothing/Branded Clothing

If you are required to purchase specific clothing for your work, for instance clothing that protects you due to the type of work that you do, or you have your business name branded into clothing as a way of differentiating yourself from competitors, HMRC will accept that this is a business related expense and allow these to be claimed against your taxes.

Wholly, exclusively and necessarily test

As with all expenses that are incurred which are to be considered for tax saving purposes, it is imperative that they pass the following two tests if a sole trader or partnership :

·         Wholly – Is this expense wholly attributable as a business expense

·         Exclusively – Is this expense exclusively a required business expense

As a limited company, the expense must also then pass the next test :

·         Necessarily – Is this expense necessary for the purpose of your trade

How much can I claim?

In simple terms, so long as you fulfil the criteria as outlined above you would be able to claim the associated laundry costs. The laundry costs, however, must solely relate to your business clothing and we would strongly recommend that you provide supporting evidence just in case HMRC look into your affairs and seek confirmation that the costs that you have claimed are proportionate to the clothing that you use for work. We would recommend, for instance, that you keep any physical receipts from laundrette visits or perhaps by keep a basic record of how many times within the tax year you had to wash your business clothes and how much it costs to run your washing machine per spin cycle. This will provide HMRC not only with proof that costs have been incurred, but also the peace of mind that you are taking your business responsibilities seriously and keeping records to back up any claims.

Can I claim for these costs if I am employed/PAYE?

If it is the case that you are not reimbursed for your costs incurred as an employee washing their work uniform or protective/branded clothing (and are not provided the facilities to wash these for free in your workplace), you are able to claim a basic flat rate expense of £60 which is aptly named ‘The Uniform Tax Refund’, and this can be backdated by up to four years! This basic flat rate claim will then give you tax relief (i.e. a tax refund via less tax deducted on your payslip via your tax code, or in the form of a physical rebate) at your appropriate rate of tax at either 20%, 40% or 45%. For basic rate tax payers this will save you £12, and for those higher rate individuals it would save you £24. Though this may not be seen as a huge saving, every penny saved is worth exploring and of course if you backdate your claim by the four years this rebate can be significantly more.

It is also worth noting however that certain professions are able to claim for tax relief on a higher amount, for example nurses or those working within the airline industry. For ease, we have provided a link to HMRC’s website that provides a breakdown of all industries in which a flat rate can be claimed for laundry and how much tax relief can be claimed:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/job-expenses-for-uniforms-work-clothing-and-tools 

If you would like any specific advice surrounding any of the information provided above, please do just get in touch and one of the team would be happy to talk you through it.