Lorry Driver Tax Rebate

HGV drivers may be able to claim a substantial tax rebate.

HGV drivers may be able to claim a substantial tax rebate.

If you are a lorry driver you may be entitled to claim tax back on some of the expenses of your employment. Depending on the expenses you incur you could be due £100s in tax back over the last 4 years.  Here are some of the things you could be claiming for:


1. Uniform Tax Rebate

If you wear a uniform or t-shirt or polo shirt with your company’s name or logo embroidered on the outside you can claim an allowance to cover the cost of laundering that uniform. If you don’t wear this but you do wear high-viz or safety clothing you can still claim the allowance. If you wear safety clothing these items don’t need company logos to qualify. As safety requirements usually require some sort of high viz gear, most drivers should be able to claim this allowance.

If you have to purchase your own safety gear, such as steel toe-capped boots you can normally also claim for the cost of these items on top of the laundry allowance.

2. HGV/LGV Licence issue and renewal costs

If you meet the cost of issue or renewal of your large goods vehicle licence you can claim tax back on the cost. You can’t claim for CPC training itself but you can claim for the issue cost of the licence, which us usually around £50.

After the age of 40 licences require renewal every 5 years. In order to get a licence you my also need a medical which typically costs £70 – £100. You can also claim tax back on that cost if you had to pay it yourself.

Click here to see the section of HMRC’s manual related to this.

3. Purchase of digital tachograph cards

Since 2006 it’s been a requirement for lorries to have a digital tachograph. The cost of smart card for a digital tachograph machine is £38. If you have to pay this cost yourself you can claim tax back on your expenditure.

Many drivers also need to purchase passport style photos for their tachograph cards, usually at a cost of £3 – £4 per time from a photo booth. This cost is also tax deductible.


4. Midday meals and accommodation expenses

If you pay for midday meals when traveling with your job or you pay in excess of the allowance your employer pays you, you can claim tax relief on the amount you are out of pocket.

You can also claim for overnight accommodation expenses you incur whilst on the road, providing your vehicle isn’t equipped with a sleeper cab.

A tax case, McLeish v CIR (38TC1), was lost for a claim such as this where HMRC refused to refund tax on the grounds that the driver kept inadequate records of the expenses incurred so it is possible HMRC will request additional evidence in respect of such a claim.

Ideally you should retain receipts for such expenses,  but HMRC may accept a personal record (for example a diary) showing the place visited, the date of the visit and the amount of expense incurred, but only for small amounts and as an occasional substitute for bills or receipts, not as a driver’s sole record.

You don’t need to provide evidence up front, however you should be prepared to provide it to substantiate your claim, should HMRC request further proof of expenditure.

Can I backdate my claim?

You can backdate your claim to the 4 previous tax years, so if you’ve been in the job for 5 years or more you could be due a tax rebate of £100s.  When you claim through www.uniformtaxrebate.co.uk we can get you a cheque for the overpaid tax in these earlier years.

How do I claim?


Why claim through you?

We’re the UK’s leading specialist in this type of claim and we paid out more than 70,000 rebates last year alone. Unlike other companies we’re a member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and we are fully qualified to give tax advice, we’re not just a claims handler. If you’ve followed other advice and claimed before we’d still like to take on your claim as there is a good chance that we can claim some extra tax back for you. If you aren’t entitled to a rebate it won’t cost you anything.


4 Responses to “Lorry Driver Tax Rebate”

  1. Neil

    Can you claim for overnight parking charges ie. at services where it can be upto £25.00 a night


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