65 replies to this topic

[TROOPER8555]

Hi all,

I read an article in the sharp end, relating to an allowance that is available to "all officers" which in essense is an £110 allowance to cover costs of cleaning uniform. For the req's it is paid directly but does not specify for specials. So on the basis of this i raised it within my LPA who advised that I should be entitiled to claim it but would have do do so through my local HMRC.

This i have done so but they have intially knocked me back on the premise of that it is for "full time serving officers" only. I am of course challanging this with them and the battle is still in progress.

Just wanted to check with the team whether anybody is already claiming the allowance from an SC perspective and or just to let all the specials know that it might be worth raising it with your local inspector etc.

I have attached a copy of the sharp end edition for reference

cheers

trooper 8555
I have attached a copy of the article for you reference

Attached Files

•  sharp_end.pdf   1.23MB   46 downloads

[ca2008]

Do you not claim all expenses through the force?

[SNOOZINGPHIL]

Hi all,

I read an article in the sharp end, relating to an allowance that is available to "all officers" which in essense is an £110 allowance to cover costs of cleaning uniform. For the req's it is paid directly but does not specify for specials. So on the basis of this i raised it within my LPA who advised that I should be entitiled to claim it but would have do do so through my local HMRC.

This i have done so but they have intially knocked me back on the premise of that it is for "full time serving officers" only. I am of course challanging this with them and the battle is still in progress.

Just wanted to check with the team whether anybody is already claiming the allowance from an SC perspective and or just to let all the specials know that it might be worth raising it with your local inspector etc.

I have attached a copy of the sharp end edition for reference

cheers

trooper 8555
[/size] [size="2"]I have attached a copy of the article for you reference

As it states it is taxable and as the specials dont get paid on the payroll as such you claim expenses then you cant be taxed but you have to show that monies on your tax form at the end of the year. If you were paid as a special then depending how much you get you would be 40% taxed as a second job but with expenses these are within your limits thats why on the face of it specials arent getting this allowance properly. :rudolph:

[JS]

This allowance is a benefit for regular officers. If we incur any costs as a result of our duty then it should be claimed as an expense - this isn't taxable, unlike the allowance.

James

[Chris 1994]

The article in Sharp end is aimed at Regular Officers as it was the Police Federation that negotiated the change.

The below was taken from the HMRC site.

EIM68130 - Tax treatment of members of the police service: flat rate expenses deduction
The flat rate expenses deduction (FRE) for uniformed police officers up to and including the rank of Chief Inspector is £55 per year (see EIM32712). (NB this has been uprated to £110)
Police Community Safety Officers wear a uniform which is identical, apart from its insignia, to that of a uniformed police officer. They may also be given the flat rate expenses deduction of £55 per year.
Other police service employees who are responsible for cleaning their own uniforms can be given the £45 deduction set out in EIM32485.

To claim this you will need to contact your local tax office and will have to follow it up with a letter confirming the following:

A) (Force concerned) provide the uniform and it is owned by them

B) They do not provide a laundary facility

C) They do not provide cleaning tokens

D) Uniform is washed at home at the officers expence

It is unclear (depends on which tax office you call) if Specials are 'uniformed police officers' or 'other police service employees' - but Specials are eligable of one or the other, either way the tax 'rebate' is at least £55

I hope it helps and happy to be advised otherwise.

Edit for typo's

Edited by Chris Cringle, 10 December 2007 - 02:05 PM.

[Big Mac]

Not sure how this can apply to specials: can we have an allowance against income if we don't receive income for police 'employment'?

Plus, whilst I work at least 50 hours a month, I wash my uniform much less than a regular, proportionate to the number of duties I perform.

[SNOOZINGPHIL]

But on another note a decent modern day washing machine will only cost at worst 15p a cycle so i cant see the point in grumbling over £110 allowance as unless you wash your kit excessivly then i think i could withstand £15 a year which is 1000 wash cycles which means that you wash your kit 20 times a week every week for a year. :rudolph:

[Braggdaddy]

I know for dry cleaning our tunics we can get vouchers but the rest of my kit, just goes in the wash and then out on the line like everything else (my property is very private so I can hang my hi viz out without fear of someone seeing it...)

Can't say I've ever thought about claiming for washing my uniform...interesting!

[Chris 1994]

Big Mac,

Interesting first question and one that can only be answered by HMRC and the two different people I spoke to (from different offices) gave the same answer, we are entitled to it, they just couldn't agree on the value! Volunteer car drivers (don't know exactly what they are) can claim a tax free mileage at a given rate and I assume by the virtue that they are 'volunteer' don't recieve an income but do get and allowance.

On the second point it is a flat rate expense regardless of how frequent you wash.


Edit typo's

snoozingphil,

To claim should be an individual choice, if you choose not to then so be it, but if it is available then those who may be struggling should be able to claim their entitlement.

What is not completly clear is what our entitlement is as the position of Special Constable is unique. On one hand for somethings we are considered employees, for others we are volunteers and in other instances we are not employees. That is the drawback of being 'Special'

Edited by Chris Cringle, 10 December 2007 - 02:51 PM.

[SNOOZINGPHIL]

Big Mac,

Interesting first question and one that can only be answered by HMRC and the two different people I spoke to (from different offices) gave the same answer, we are entitled to it, they just couldn't agree on the value! Volunteer car drivers (don't know exactly what they are) can claim a tax free mileage at a given rate and I assume by the virtue that they are 'volunteer' don't recieve an income but do get and allowance.

On the second point it is a flat rate expense regardless of how frequent you wash.


Edit typo's

snoozingphil,

To claim should be an individual choice, if you choose not to then so be it, but if it is available then those who may be struggling should be able to claim their entitlement.

What is not completly clear is what our entitlement is as the position of Special Constable is unique. On one hand for somethings we are considered employees, for others we are volunteers and in other instances we are not employees. That is the drawback of being 'Special'

It seems that way

[r_buxton]

Why I started my current job they said my tax code was different to other people and appeared to give me an extra allowance. I wonder if its that?

I dont know, tax stuff confuses me...

[maforduk]

Ok all, I have just spoken to my Local Tax Office (Swansea-South Wales) and they have told me that when I start active duty, write in to them and let them know. They will them adjust my tax code for my full time job to include the allowance.
Hope that helps you all.

[SNOOZINGPHIL]

Ok all, I have just spoken to my Local Tax Office (Swansea-South Wales) and they have told me that when I start active duty, write in to them and let them know. They will them adjust my tax code for my full time job to include the allowance.
Hope that helps you all.

See you will always have someone with the correct answer in here if you wait long enough :rudolph:

[td95]

Guys

Firstly this is not an allowance that is paid, it is a deduction allowed from income. Therefore you (either as an SC or a PC) don't get £55 / £110 out of the tax office you can potentially get back £55 x 40% or 22% depending on your marginal rate of tax. So up to now currently the 'potential' benefit is either £22 or £11 (rising to £44 or £22).

Secondly & most importantly my opinion is that it is only deductible from RELEVANT income, i.e. if you get TAXABLE emoluments from being an SC you may well be entitled to it. I do not consider that it is deductible from TOTAL income.

Thirdly please don't believe the advice given by ringing a tax office. You're normally nowadays speaking with a call centre staffed often by people who won't fully understand the law & are highly unlikely to appreciate all the ramifications of how SC's are paid allowances etc.

My advice to anyone going down this route :- Don't, not worth the possible benefit & you may open a can of worms that you really didn't want to.

td95

[maforduk]

The person whom I spoke to went off to check as he didn't know! I'm presuming that the perosn he did check with does know though!

[td95]

I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave earlier.

[td95]

Talk to your tax office. Its something that is usually added to your tax code... When I was PAYE employed, I used to get a flat rate allowance for being an electrical engineer...

Yep, could well have, as it was an allowance against your income as an electrical engineer.

Point is that in most services you are not taxed on anything you get from being a Special. Therefore there is nothing to offset the deduction against.

td95

[JS]

I'm no expert in these topics .. but TD95 does this sort of thing for a living. I would suggest that he is listened to.... Guess what job he does ?

James

[bensonby]

This is all very confusing....

What do people think it is? An amount that the tax people will rebate (or not tax you) if you tell them your a police officer? (i.e. they will take the money off your annual tax bill) or is it something that the force pay you (and you get taxed on it)?

Hardly seems worth it if you are going to actually end up with anything less than £50 in your pocket...

[Whopper MacBig]

This is an interesting thread.

I get "paid" £1400 per annum for being a Special (£1000 net) so I do have something to claim against. I already claim back an element of my Federation dues from the tax man so looks like I can add this in too!

Merry Christmas.

[bensonby]

The tax will add an allowance onto your annual tax allowance for certain occupations. Usually a nominal amount. I got about £100 or so a year over the years for being an electrical engineer. It showed up on my tax code thingy P60 ?

This is the sort of thing the Revenue could easily do to give specials something back, a tax allowance.

oh, so it is added to the basic amount that isn't taxed? (which is the first £4000 or whatever it is...)

[td95]

IMHO

Mistletoe Groper, you can claim it.

Bensonby, you can not.

td95

[-AJ]

I'm sorry if this has been covered before, I think it might be appropriate for this site - Taking from the Money Saving Expert Website:

Tax rebate for uniform wearers
Employees who wear a uniform – whether a simple polo shirt with a logo or full attire eg, nurses – who wash, repair or replace it may be able to reclaim tax of £12 to £56 PER YEAR.

You can claim back a rebate for up to the past six years - plus the current year - and once you're registered it applies for the future too.

To be able to claim tax relief, ALL of the following must apply:

• You wear a recognisable uniform that shows you've got a certain job, like a branded t-shirt or police uniform. Ordinary clothes, even only worn for work, don't count.
• Your employer requires you to wear it while you're working.
• You have to pay to clean, repair or replace it yourself. However, you can't claim if your employer washes your kit, provides facilities to do so (even if you don't use them) or pays you for doing this maintenance.
• You paid income tax in the year you are claiming for.

How much? The amount you're able to claim tax relief on depends totally on your industry. The standard allowance for spending on uniform maintenance is £60 (for 2011/12) – so basic rate taxpayers would be able to claim £12 back (20% of £60) and higher rate payers £24 (40% of £60). The £60 is a flat rate, so you don't need to record and report all the individual amounts you spend.

Most people can claim for the past six years, if you've been wearing the uniform all that time – though before April 2008 the flat rate was £45 per year. A basic rate taxpayer, claiming the max. possible for the last six years (and this one), could reclaim £75 in total.

Some occupations have more specific limits, often to do with specialist uniforms, with the maximum allowance of £140. A higher rate taxpayer would get back £56 tax on that. Check to see if your profession is listed.

The only way you can get more than the standard payment is to prove that your annual uniform laundry bill is higher. Speak to the tax office if you want to do this as it's a little more complicated.

How do I do it? If this is your first time claiming a tax allowance or the amount you paid out was more than £1,000, then you'll need to claim the money back by post.

By letter: Send a letter to the tax office on your payslip/P60, or to the generic address HM Revenue & Customs, Pay As You Earn, PO Box 1970, Liverpool, L75 1WX. Write 'Repayment Claim' on the envelope to speed things up.

The letter should include and mention the following (where applicable):

• Employer's name and address and dates of employment for the past six years
• Your occupation, job title and industry sector
• Details of any laundry or cleaning services provided by your employer, if any
• Details of payment or vouchers provided by your employer to cover laundry or other costs, if any
• Why your uniform can't be worn outside of work (eg, it includes the company logo)
• Whether you want the rebate to be deducted from the current year's or you would like a cheque

You will then be sent a letter telling you how much you're entitled to. It could take around 5 weeks to process your claim.

By phone: If you've claimed before and had expenses of less than £1,000, you can do the reclaim over the phone. Call 0845 300 0627 (or 0135 535 9022) 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday or 8am to 4pm on Saturday.

If, as part of its normal tax admin, HMRC sends you a P810 'Tax Review' form – to check your tax code is correct – you can also fill this in to claim tax relief. For expenses over £1,000, or if you changed jobs midway through a tax year, you'll need to fill out additional forms.

Anything else worth knowing? You can't claim for the initial cost of buying the clothes.

There are other tax-deductible expenses you may be able to claim, such as the cost of professional fees, specialist tools or travel for your job. See more on the other allowances on the HMRC website. For instance, nurses also get a £12 allowance for shoes, £6 for tights and tax relief on RCN subscriptions.

I'm writing a letter now - we shall see how it goes

[MikeBrum]

Special Constables are volunteers, who usually receive no pay for their police duties. It follows that they have no income against which a FRE deduction can be given. In no circumstances should a Special Constable be given a police officer's FRE allowance in the PAYE code for their full-time employment. If, exceptionally, a Special Constable receives a bounty, or some other form of remuneration for their police duties, the police authority should apply PAYE to the payment(s) in the normal way. A FRE allowance can then be given in the code for the Special Constable’s police service employment.

Edited by MikeBrum, 16 November 2011 - 04:19 PM.

[-AJ]

Indeed - But I am refering here more for Regular Police officers - and also people in their day jobs - like myself. Perhaps this'd be better in 'The Real World'