HGV Driver Tax Rebate and Employment Expenses Relief

Relief is available where you had to spend your own money on something you needed for the job, your employer did not pay it back, and the cost meets HMRC's test for employment expenses. Three things come up repeatedly for HGV drivers.

Cleaning and maintaining specialist clothing

Where you are required to wear specialist or protective clothing for the job, you pay to clean or replace it, and your employer neither provides cleaning nor reimburses it. There is a flat rate deduction route for this, and there are occupational rates. It applies to work clothing, not to ordinary clothes worn to work.

Subsistence not covered by an employer payment

If your employer pays nothing towards nights out and you incur real costs staying away, there may be relief. If your employer already pays an allowance, that allowance has covered it, and claiming again for the same cost is not available.

Union or professional subscriptions

Subscriptions to a body on HMRC's approved list, where membership is relevant to the job and you pay it yourself.

Most tramping drivers receive a night-out payment. Where the employer holds an HMRC approval notice and operates a checking system, it can be paid free of tax and National Insurance up to the agreed industry rate, with a reduced rate where a sleeper cab is used. Two consequences follow, and both matter for a rebate claim.

1. 01If the payment reached you free of tax, you have already had the relief. There is nothing further to claim for those nights.
2. 02If the payment was taxed, or if your employer paid less than you actually spent and you have records, there may be something to look at, but it is the shortfall rather than the whole amount.

The full conditions, including the sleeper cab reduction and the employer's approval and checking obligations, are set out in the overnight subsistence guide.

1. Establish what your employer already paid

   Payslips and, where night-out money is paid, the rate and whether it was taxed. This step decides whether there is a claim at all, and it is the step refund firms skip.

2. Identify costs you met yourself

   With records. Bank or card statements are usually enough where receipts have gone, but an unevidenced round number is not a claim.

3. Check the years still open

   Relief can be claimed for earlier tax years within the time limit, so a claim often covers more than the current year.

4. Submit and confirm

   The claim goes to HMRC with the basis stated. Any repayment comes to you directly from HMRC, not through us, and your tax code may be adjusted for the current year.

Send us a P60 and a payslip that shows how your night-out money is paid. We will tell you whether there is a claim worth making before you commit to anything, and quote a fixed fee if there is.