How the Process of Claiming a Teacher Tax Rebate Works
If you’re a teacher in the UK, you may be due a tax refund from HMRC. Amongst other things, you could claim professional body membership fees, specialist clothing, equipment and the use of your car for work purposes.
Who is Eligible?
- Every elementary and secondary school teacher
- Lecturers
- Higher Educational Professionals
- Teaching assistants
Because this list is incomplete, it is always worth checking to see whether you are qualified.
What Can You Claim a Teacher Tax Rebate For?
Professional fees – you can claim the subscription fees to many professional bodies, like the NUT and NASUWT. The amounts vary, as each professional organisation has to make its arrangement with HMRC.
Specialist clothing -you can claim back expenses on clothes you need to wear for teaching purposes. For example, if you need to wear a blazer to look professional, you can claim back a percentage of the cost.
Equipment – if you’ve got to buy equipment to supplement what the school provides, you can claim back up to £250.
Car expenses – you can claim up to £2300, but you’ll need to keep receipts if you want to claim back the total amount.
How to Claim Teacher Tax Rebate
If you’re not sure if you can claim a tax rebate, the most straightforward advice is to make a claim and find out. It’s easy to do, and it probably won’t take longer than 10 minutes online if you have the correct information to hand.
You can make a claim online, by phone or claim a tax rebate form.
The process usually involves:
- Submitting your claim form with receipts, invoices and proof of payment.
- Waiting for HMRC to process your claim.
If you’ve got the correct information on hand, and you make a claim between 6 months and three years after you paid the invoice, it’s usually smooth sailing. Teachers who claim within three years of paying can be reimbursed immediately, so if you think you qualify for a claim, you’d be wise to submit it as soon as possible.
Teacher Tax Rebate Example
Let’s say you’ve bought a new laptop to take to lessons and you need to upgrade your broadband connection to make sure your lessons load. You can claim back up to £250 on the laptop and another £250 as a broadband upgrade. That’s £500 of tax rebates you can claim back every year.
Another Example
Let’s say you’ve bought a new pair of black shoes with leather soles to wear in lessons. You can claim back up to 45% of the cost to the nearest £5. If your shoes come to £75, you can claim back £33.75.
In this case, you’d get back a total of £133.75 every year.
Conclusion
The Teachers’ Tax Rebate is a great way to get back some of your money. It’s worth doing, significantly, as it doesn’t cost you anything. So, if you’re a teacher, you should claim your tax rebate, especially as you may get money back that you were unaware of!
We can assist you with everything required to claim a tax refund you may have. All UK claims may be calculated using our Tax Refund Calculator. Make an application for a tax refund right now!