UK Tax Refund

If you are working in the UK, then you probably have noticed that some of your earnings were deducted by the HMRC. The good news is that you can get a refund for some of this money.

The amount you get depends on many factors such as gross income, withheld tax amount, the period spent in the country and others. so If you worked in the UK during the past 5 years and paid income tax there, you can apply for a tax refund.

Tax Refund If You Lost Your Job

You might be due a refund the following applies to you:

  • Were you dismissed or made redundant part-way through the tax year? the Tax year starts on the 6 April and ends on the 5 April of the following year.
  • If were paying tax through PAYE (Pay As You Earn)?
  • You are still out of work

How much you can get back will depend on the salary you earned since the tax year started and How much tax you paid on those earnings and any other income.

Tax Refund When Leaving the UK

If you’re leaving the UK to permanently move abroad; or leaving the UK to work abroad full-time for at least one full tax year, you could be owed a substantial tax rebate from HMRC.

To qualify for this refund, you must be physically present in the UK for 183 or more days in any one tax year, you are considered a UK resident for tax purposes. You may be considered as a non-UK resident, however, if you want to claim back tax you have to visit the UK for more than 90 days in the tax year.

to claim back tax you’ll have to fill in the P85 form and send it to the HMRC. This form is used to claim tax refunds as well as tax relief that you are eligible for.It should also be used to inform HMRC of any UK income that you will continue to receive whilst abroad.

If you are employed or on Jobseekers Allowance, you should also include Parts 2 and 3 of your P45 along with form P85. If you’re self-employed, you should send a self-assessment tax return.

Uniform Tax Refund

You are eligible for a tax deduction if the clothing you wear to work is:

  • A uniform
  • Protective clothing
  • Clothing with signage or branding of business that is occupation specific

If You should be qualified for the refund if your employer requires you to wear the outfit at work and you’re responsible for washing and maintaining it yourself. You also have to have paid income tax during the year or years you wish to claim for.

The amount you could get depends on the line of work you’re in. The standard rate is £60 for the current tax year (2016/2017), which means that basic rate taxpayers could claim back £12 a year (20 per cent of £60), while higher rate taxpayers could claim £24 (40 per cent of the £60 allowance).

HMRC only provides or entertains a tax refund for uniforms on the basis of the last four years of your working contract or employment. so a basic rate taxpayer could reclaim £60 in total.

However, there are some professions who are entitled to even more money back. Joiners, Carpenters and ambulance staff have a £140 annual deduction, which means that a base rate taxpayer could claim £28 a year or £140 in total.

VAT Tax Refund

If you are planning to visit the UK to benefit from annual sales, you can a lot more money by claiming your UK VAT refund

VAT stands for Value Added Tax. It’s a kind of sales tax on goods and services that represent the value added to the basic product between the supplier and the next buyer in the chain.

VAT is charged at either the standard rate of 20%, the reduced rate of 5% (for things such as gas or electricity) or the zero rate (for things such as certain food).

You may be qualified for VAT refund on goods bought in the UK if you:

  • visit the UK but live outside the EU and are going back home
  • are an EU resident leaving the EU for 12 months or more
  • are a non-EU resident but work or study in the UK and are leaving the EU for 12 months or more

Not all retailers offer tax-free shopping and you can only get VAT refunds for goods bought within the last 3 months.