Carer or Care Worker? A Quick Guide to Tax Refunds & Benefits

Carers and care workers both provide essential support, but the tax and benefit rules that apply to them can be very different.

An unpaid carer may be able to get financial support such as Carer’s Allowance. A paid care worker may be able to get tax relief on certain costs they have to cover for their job. Some people are both, so it’s important to look at each part of your circumstances separately.

Here’s what the current rules look like.

What’s the difference between a carer and a care worker?

A carer usually provides unpaid support to a relative, friend or another person who needs help because of illness, disability, a mental health condition, addiction or age.

A care worker is employed to provide care as part of their job. That might mean working for the NHS, a private care provider, an agency, a charity or a local authority.

Being in paid employment doesn’t automatically stop you receiving support as an unpaid carer. What matters is whether you meet the rules for the relevant benefit, including limits on earnings.

How much is Carer’s Allowance in 2026/27?

For the 2026/27 tax year, Carer’s Allowance is £86.45 a week.

In England and Wales, you normally need to provide at least 35 hours of care each week. The person you care for must receive a qualifying disability benefit, and your earnings must normally be £204 a week or less after permitted deductions such as tax, National Insurance and certain expenses.

There are other conditions too, including rules around age, education, residence and immigration status.

Scotland has a different system. Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer’s Allowance there and is administered by Social Security Scotland.

Northern Ireland also has its own Carer’s Allowance application and administration process.

If you’re unsure whether a caring benefit applies, check the current government guidance before applying because receiving Carer’s Allowance can affect some other benefits.

Do you pay tax on Carer’s Allowance?

Carer’s Allowance is taxable income.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a tax bill. If your total taxable income is within your Personal Allowance, you may have no Income Tax to pay.

For 2026/27, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570.

If you also receive earnings, pension income or other taxable income, Carer’s Allowance forms part of the overall calculation.

Can an unpaid carer get a tax refund?

Being an unpaid carer by itself doesn’t create a right to employee expense tax relief.

However, receiving Carer’s Allowance doesn’t automatically prevent you from getting a tax refund for another reason.

For example, you might also have a PAYE job and have paid too much Income Tax, been put on the wrong tax code or paid qualifying employment expenses yourself.

Whether any refund is due depends on your wider tax position.

What tax relief can paid care workers get?

If you’re employed as a care worker and pay certain job costs yourself, you may be able to get tax relief.

HMRC normally requires the expense to be necessary for your work, paid by you and not fully reimbursed by your employer.

The amount available depends on the type of expense and your circumstances.

Travel and mileage

You may be able to get tax relief on qualifying business travel. Ordinary commuting between your home and a permanent workplace doesn’t normally count.

A common example in care work is travelling between patients or clients as part of your duties.

For 2026/27, HMRC’s approved mileage amount for an employee using their own car or van is 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles in the tax year and 25p per mile after that.

If your employer reimburses you at a lower rate, you may be able to get tax relief on the difference between what they pay and HMRC’s approved amount.

The 55p rate is an expense amount used for the tax calculation. It does not mean HMRC pays you 55p in cash for every mile.

Keep accurate records of qualifying journeys, including why you travelled and where the journey started and ended.

Uniform cleaning

Some health and care workers can use HMRC’s flat-rate expense system for the cost of maintaining a uniform.

The amount depends on your role.

For example, HMRC currently lists nurses, healthcare assistants, domiciliary care workers and several other health professionals at a flat-rate expense of £125 a year. Other roles have different amounts.

The £125 figure is the expense on which tax relief is calculated. It isn’t a £125 refund.

If you pay Income Tax at 20%, £125 of qualifying flat-rate expenses would usually reduce your tax by £25.

Shoes and tights

Certain health and care staff who are required to wear shoes, tights or stockings of a particular colour or style can also have separate flat-rate expenses.

HMRC currently lists £12 for shoes and £6 for tights or stockings where the conditions are met.

Again, these are deductible expense amounts rather than cash refund amounts.

Professional fees and subscriptions

Tax relief may also be available for professional fees or subscriptions you pay yourself.

The professional organisation generally needs to be approved by HMRC and the membership must be relevant to your job, or the fee must be required for you to carry out your work.

You cannot normally get tax relief if your employer has already paid or fully reimbursed the cost.

How far back can care workers get tax relief?

For many employee job expenses, HMRC allows you to apply for the current tax year and the previous four tax years, provided you met the rules in each year.

Rates and circumstances can change from one year to the next, so each year should be checked on its own facts.

What if I’m both a care worker and an unpaid carer?

The two positions are assessed separately.

You could potentially be in paid employment as a care worker while also looking after someone privately for at least 35 hours a week.

Paid work doesn’t automatically rule out Carer’s Allowance, although your earnings and the other benefit conditions still matter.

Likewise, receiving a caring benefit doesn’t automatically determine whether you are due a PAYE tax refund.

Can RIFT help me check my work expenses?

If you’re a PAYE care worker and you’ve paid qualifying employment costs yourself, RIFT can help you check whether those expenses could affect the amount of tax you should have paid.

You can also deal directly with HMRC yourself. Tax relief depends on your individual circumstances, the costs you actually incurred and whether your employer reimbursed them.