Guides / Job expenses

Claiming job expenses on your tax return (Employment boxes 17 to 20)

Tax year 2025-26. Checked against HMRC's Employment (SA102) form and GOV.UK, October 2026.

If you're employed and already doing a Self Assessment return, you claim tax relief on work costs in four boxes on the Employment page. You must claim them there, not through the separate online claim service. Relief is at your highest rate of tax: 20p in the pound for basic-rate taxpayers, 40p for higher rate.

The four boxes

Box	What it asks	What goes in it
17	Business travel and subsistence expenses	Mileage in your own vehicle (minus what your employer paid), plus train fares, parking, hotels and meals on work trips.
18	Fixed deductions for expenses	The flat-rate amount for uniforms, work clothing and tools in your industry.
19	Professional fees and subscriptions	Fees to approved professional bodies (HMRC's List 3) that you need for your job.
20	Other expenses and capital allowances	Working from home (if you have to), and tools or equipment you had to buy.

Only claim what your employer didn't pay you back for. If you have two jobs, put each expense on the Employment page for the job it relates to.

Box 18: uniform, work clothing and tools

If you wash, repair or replace a uniform, protective clothing or tools yourself, you can claim a fixed amount each year without keeping receipts. Some 2025-26 amounts from HMRC's list:

Industry and job	Per year
Any job not on the list (uniform or protective clothing)	£60
Agriculture - all workers	£100
Health and care - nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants	£125
Police - up to chief inspector, and PCSOs	£140
Building - joiners and carpenters	£140
Building - labourers and navvies	£60
Building - all other workers	£120

The full list is on GOV.UK. Ordinary clothes you could wear outside work don't count, even if you only wear them for work.

Box 17: business mileage

For journeys you make for work in your own car or van (not your normal commute), HMRC's approved rates for 2025-26 are:

Cars and vans: 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p
Motorcycles: 24p a mile
Bicycles: 20p a mile

Take off anything your employer paid you for those miles. What's left goes in box 17.

Example

Jo drives 12,000 business miles. Jo's employer pays 15p a mile (£1,800).

10,000 miles at 45p	£4,500
2,000 miles at 25p	£500
Less paid by employer	-£1,800
Box 17	£3,200

As a basic-rate taxpayer, that saves Jo £640 in tax. Keep a mileage log with the date, reason, and start and end of each journey.

The car rate rises to 55p for 2026-27. For 2025-26 returns it's 45p.

Box 20: working from home

You can claim £6 a week (or your actual extra costs) only if you have to work from home. For example, your employer has no office near you, or your job requires you to live too far away. Choosing to work from home, or having a hybrid contract, doesn't count. You can't claim this relief at all from 2026-27, but 2025-26 is still allowed.

Box 19: professional fees and subscriptions

Annual fees to bodies on HMRC's approved list, where you need the membership for your job. For example, nurses' NMC registration, HCPC and many engineering, accountancy and trade bodies. Fees for a body that isn't on the list don't qualify.

Let the calculator do the sums. Pick your industry's flat rate, enter your miles and what your employer paid. It fills in boxes 17 to 20 and shows how much tax it saves.

Work out my figures - free

Sources

General guidance, not tax advice.