Guidance

Claim tax relief for your job expenses if you cannot claim online

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

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

We only accept postal claims using this HMRC form.

Before you start

You must claim tax relief by post if you’re claiming either:

  • on behalf of someone else
  • for more than 5 jobs

You’ll need to include all expenses for the tax year you want to claim for.

Find out if you should make a claim by post or in another way.

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
  • your claim is being made for the current tax year — this includes customers that are due to file a Self Assessment tax return
  • you have paid tax in any of the years 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 to the address listed in the ‘What to do now’ section of the form.

Tax relief for expenses of employment (P87)

PDF, 1.48 MB, 8 pages

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The form may not work if you try to open it in your internet browser. If the form does not open, contact online services support for more help.

The Guidance notes for form P87 (ODT, 39.8 KB) will help you to complete the form.

If you’re claiming on behalf of 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.

Claim by phone

You can claim tax relief by phoning us if:

  • you’ve already claimed the same expense type in a previous year
  • your total expenses are £2,500 or less

You cannot claim working from home expenses by phone.

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
Published 5 September 2023
Last updated 26 March 2024 + show all updates

  1. Added translation

  2. Guidance notes for form P87 have been updated.

  3. The HMRC Commissioners Directions has been updated.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Guidance notes for form P87 have been updated.

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

  8. 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.

  9. Added translation

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