How to Get Builders Tax Refunds

When you get your monthly payments through the PAYE system, it is easy to think you wouldn’t be due to a tax rebate. But this isn’t necessarily true because there are some tax deductions that can be made from your payment that you need to manually apply for. One of those is known as the builders tax refund – but how do you know if you could claim?

What is the system?

Under the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system, you pay tax and National Insurance each month with the amount automatically deducted from your payment before you even receive it.  This means you don’t have to worry about paying tax every year or getting a big bill for National Insurance annually.

What it does mean is that HMRC issues you with a tax code that tells your employer or the contractor you are working for how much to deduct.  This is a fairly standard code that uses things like the personal allowance to work out what you need to pay.  But it doesn’t automatically consider extra things you are allowed to claim for as part of your job.  These have to be applied for manually.

What can you claim for?

As a builder being paid by PAYE, there are a number of things you can claim for and these will slightly change your tax code.  These include:

• Anything to do with travel – if your job means you go to different sites, then you can claim for the cost of travel to these various locations. This includes mileage for your car or public transport costs if you use this instead.  You can even claim for things like parking while at these other locations (although sadly, not for any parking tickets you get!)
• Costs while at work – known as subsistence costs these are things like meals and accommodation that have been paid because you were working. There are strict limits about what you can claim though so don’t go booking a five-star hotel with the aim of claiming it from your tax.
• Maintenance for work equipment – if you have tools, equipment or even a uniform for your job, you can claim a tax allowance for the maintenance and upkeep of these. So if you have highvisibility gear that needs to be regularly washed, you can claim a small amount for the cost of this.  Tools that need repairing or replacing can also be on the list
• Professional fees – this is the cost of joining professional trade bodies, union fees or magazine subscriptions as part of your job

How can you make a claim?

Here at Express Tax Claims, we specialise in construction tax claims and can help you get back those costs around travelling to work.  We are a Maidstone based company with two decades of experience helping customers get back the money they are owned.

Our average customer receives £1200 in back money and if you can claim for the full four years, it could be as much as £4000.  Plus your tax code can be altered going forward, making further savings for years to come.