Guidance

Claim tax relief for your job expenses by post

If you’re eligible, you can claim Income Tax relief on your job expenses by post using form P87.

From:
HM Revenue & Customs
Published
5 September 2023
Last updated
12 November 2024 — See all updates

We only accept postal claims using this HMRC form.

You might be able to claim tax relief if:

  • you use your own money for things that you must buy for your job
  • you only use these things for your work

You should check if you can claim tax relief for job expenses.

When you can claim

You can make a claim if:

  • your claim is within 4 years from the end of the tax year you are claiming for
  • your total expenses claim for each tax year is £2,500 or less — if the amount is more than £2,500, you need to fill in a Self Assessment tax return
  • you have paid tax in the year you are claiming for

You cannot claim tax relief on job expenses if your employer or any other person paid back all of your work-related expenses.

How to complete the form

You need to:

  1. Download and save the form on your computer.

  2. Open it using the latest free version of Adobe Reader.

  3. Complete the form on-screen then print it or print it and complete it.

  4. Send the form and any evidence to HMRC.

Tax relief for expenses of employment (P87)

PDF, 1.48 MB, 8 pages

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The Guidance notes for form P87 (ODT, 38.2 KB) will help you to complete the form.

Where to send the form

Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS

What evidence you need to send with your P87 form

Professional fees and subscriptions

You must send copies of receipts, or other evidence, that show how much you paid for each professional fee or subscription you’ve claimed.

Uniform, work clothing and tools

If you claim an agreed fixed amount (a ‘flat rate expense’) you do not need to send evidence.

If you claim tax relief for the exact amount you’ve spent on your uniform, work clothing or tools you must send copies of your receipts, or other evidence, which proves you’ve paid for the item.

Vehicles you use for work

You must send copies of your mileage logs, these must include:

  • the reason for every journey
  • the postcode for the start point of every journey
  • the postcode for the end point of every journey

If you are claiming for more than one employment, you must send a copy of your mileage log for each.

Hotel and meal expenses

You must send copies of receipts that include:

  • the date of your stay or meal
  • the name of the hotel or restaurant

Working from home

You need to send evidence that you must work from home, such as a copy of your employment contract. If it’s not stated in your contract, you need to send something else that proves you must work from home.

If you choose to work from home, you cannot claim for this expense. 

Other expenses

If you’re claiming for any other expenses, you must list these and the employments they’re for. We also need copies of receipts, or other evidence, that show the name of the item and proof that you’ve paid for it. 

If you’re claiming for travel costs like public transport tickets or parking fees related to business trips, you will need to send evidence for these such as receipts.

If you’re charging a fee to claim for someone else

If you’re making a claim for someone else, charging a fee for this and want the repayment to be paid to you, find out what you will need to do to receive Income Tax or PAYE (Pay As You Earn) repayments on behalf of others.We only accept postal claims using this HMRC form.

HMRC Commissioners’ direction

Read the HMRC Commissioners' direction (ODT, 22.6 KB) to:

  • find detailed information on how tax relief claims for job expenses can be submitted to HMRC
  • get confirmation that the HMRC version of the P87 form must be used if you want to claim tax relief for job expenses by post

Updates to this page

Published 5 September 2023
Last updated 12 November 2024 + show all updates

  1. The HMRC Commissioners' Directions has been added.

  2. The guidance notes for form P87 and information about how to claim, including the evidence you will need to provide has been updated.

  3. Added translation

  4. Guidance notes for form P87 have been updated.

  5. The HMRC Commissioners Directions has been updated.

  6. The tax relief for expenses of employment P87 form has been updated to include a new version to be used on or after 26 February 2024.

  7. Added information about how and when you can claim Income Tax relief on your job expenses if you cannot claim online or by post. You can contact HMRC by phone if you’ve already claimed the same expense type in a previous year and your total expenses are £2,500 or less. You cannot claim working from home expenses by phone.

  8. Guidance notes for form P87 have been updated.

  9. Information has been added about the criteria for claiming tax relief for expenses

  10. A new form will be made available from 26 February 2024. The new nomination section will need to be completed for a repayment to be made to a third party.

  11. Added translation

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