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Monday 13th February 2023
What's it all about?
This article's designed to help you:
We know you’re busy! Looking after a family member or being a professional Care Worker is a demanding job. In either case, you’re doing essential work at the heart of society and in our communities, ensuring people have the best possible quality of life.
So, we thought we’d take this opportunity to help look after you! And your money…
Lots of people get overwhelmed by the thought of managing money. So if that sounds like you, you’re not alone. And if your care work leaves you feeling like you don’t have time to look into what you’re entitled to, our short guide will help to clear things up.
If you’re a Care Worker, read on to find out how you might have a tax refund waiting…
As they say, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. And a few pounds extra will help to take a load off!
Let’s start with you…
Care work is rewarding work, whether you’re doing it for a family member or as your main job. It’s also demanding work!
A Carer is typically someone who looks after a family member, a neighbour or a friend. You don’t have to be related to the person you look after.
The person you look after can require care for any reason. Perhaps they are elderly or have a disability. They may have long term illness, a mental health condition or drug or alcohol dependency.
If you’re a Carer, you may qualify for an allowance or reliefs may be available.
A Care Worker is employed by a company, agency or charity. You’ll have regular shifts/hours that you work, full- or part-time. As you get paid for your work, you can’t claim Carer’s Allowance but you may qualify for tax relief on things like travel expenses.
If you care for someone, even if you’re not related to or live with them, you could qualify for Carer’s Allowance.
In 2022/23, the rate for Carer’s Allowance is £69.70 per week.
To be eligible, the person you care for must receive one of the following benefits:
And you must meet the following criteria:
If you tick all the boxes, find out how you could claim Carer’s Allowance here.
You can only claim once, even if you are looking after more than one person.
If Carer’s Allowance is your only income, you won’t have to pay tax on this claim.
However, the allowance is taxable and must be counted in taxable income. So, if you have income from another job or, for example, a personal pension, and that all adds up to more than the personal allowance (£12,570), then you will owe tax.
If you’re an employee, your employer will pay your tax through PAYE. If you have other incomes, you’ll have to declare these by filing a Self-Assessment tax return.
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If you’re a Carer claiming Carer’s Allowance, you cannot claim any expenses. This also means you’re not eligible for a tax refund.
This is different if you’re a Care Worker…
If you’re employed as a Care Worker and you have to use your own car to travel to patients’ homes, you may be able to claim the mileage allowance as a tax refund.
You can do this if your company doesn’t already reimburse you for travel expenses.
Find out more about Tax Breaks For Healthcare Workers.
Healthcare workers in both the private sector and working for the NHS can qualify for a tax refund.
That’s because you most probably spend some of your own money on work-related things like travel for work or washing your uniform.
A healthcare worker tax refund is for anyone who:
Ask us if you’re not sure.
And if you’ve been a Care Worker for a few years and haven’t made a claim, there’s a good chance you have a couple of years claims to make!
Common expenses most Care Workers can claim a tax refund on include:
While the allowance for shoes and tights is just £18 per year, the uniform washing allowance is £125. Plus, business mileage can really add up!
You can claim business mileage if you travel for work (not to work). For example, if you visit patients in their own homes.
To claim mileage, you need to produce records of journeys, dates and mileage. Again, we can help you to get this information together or negotiate with HMRC on your behalf.
Check out our comprehensive guide to: Tax Refunds for Healthcare Workers
Which contains everything you need to know whether you’re a doctor, nurse or any kind of health professional.
Uniform tax rebates (sometimes called uniform benefits or HMRC uniform allowances) are a special kind of tax relief for people who have to clean, repair or replace specialist work clothing.
Nurse, midwife, physiotherapist or healthcare assistant, working in healthcare doesn’t mean the taxman should hold onto any more of your money than he’s supposed to.
Until now, the rules around keeping school uniform costs reasonable haven’t really had any teeth to them. Now, however, a new law has come in that ought to change things.
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