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Don’t despair when you see all the taxes and deductions made from your pay check. There are ways to claim tax relief back from the UK government – any extra costs or expenditures that the HRMC approves of. So how can you get paid back?

‘Tax relief’ means that you either:
-pay less tax to take account of money you’ve spent on specific things
-get tax back or get it repaid in another way, like into a personal pension

You get some types of tax relief automatically, but some you must apply for.

Where do I start the process of claiming tax relief

So let’s go through the steps to claim tax relief in the UK so that you can go about getting some cash back!

  • Go to the Income Tax Relief website.
  • Choose the option to claim tax relief if you’re employed.
  • Scroll down and select see if you can claim.

The Questionnaire

You will be asked some questions to take you to the right form.

  • You are claiming for yourself.
  • You are claiming for taxes paid by you for the years you have been working in the UK.
  • As an NHS employee and a skilled worker visa holder you don’t complete self-assessment return (as your earning already get taxed via PAYE system).
  • Sometimes for courses your employer will reimburse back the from your study budget. You can’t claim for that.
  • Select all the expenses you want to claim (select all that apply):
    • Professional Fees and Subscriptions (it was my expenses)

You may wonder if your PLAB exam fees, PLAB 2 visa fees etc are covered, but if you weren’t paying UK taxes during that time, it is not eligible to be claimed.

Professional fees and subscriptions is the option for most of us, but you can also choose to get relief on any scrubs you may have had to pay for, your stethoscope (if bought within the time period), and other expenses for travel that were necessary for your job.

Things you need at hand to claim tax relief

Keep your pay slip handy.

  • Input your employer details, PAYE number, and your job title.
  • Add on allowances for a car or bicycle if you have sufficient proof and mileage to show. This can only be claimed for temporary places of work.
  • Next you can claim for gas spent on a company car.
  • You can then look to claim back any travel expenses incurred for business travel.

More often than not these professional subscriptions are direct debit. So checking your bank account’s direct debit will give you a quick information about the amount of money spent on this subscriptions.

Other expenses for which you can claim

You can also claim on:

  • Indemnity cover,
  • Royal college subscriptions,
  • Exam fees,
  • Mandatory courses with travel,
  • e-Portfolios, etc.

If you are wondering about other ways you can save some of your precious paycheck please check how to make a budget.

You’ll get a confirmation after the completion and submission of your application and you can expect to see a change in your tax code on your next pay slip!

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