Adam's £400 Uniform Tax Refund Story
Adam Jeffrey has loved trains since he was introduced to Thomas the Tank Engine as a toddler so it was inevitable that he would make a career on the railways – he works as a technician for Network Rail testing and fixing track around the country.
It was on one of his assignments that he met a sub-contractor who told him about claiming a uniform tax allowance via Uniform Tax Rebate. Adam, aged 22, from Stoke, has to have two uniforms for work – high-visibility orange overalls for track work and polo shirts and chinos for office-based days.
So he applied and received a rebate of more than £400. Not only that, he told two work colleagues who also applied and received hundreds of pounds too.
“I didn’t expect to get the amount I did so I’m very happy,” says Adam. “I was chatting with a sub-contractor in the pub after work and he showed me the website. It was an easy process, and I also found I was entitled to more money because I do a lot of overtime and discovered I’d paid too much tax. It was a win/win situation.”
It’s clear to see that Adam loves his work. “It’s like a holiday every day for me,” he admits. From his work base at Derby, he travels the East and West Coast Lines – “we make sure Britain’s railways say safe” he says.
“I’ve loved trains all my life, right from Thomas the Tank Engine. When I left school I thought about training as a boilersmith but I joined Network Rail on a three-year apprenticeship as a track layer. This included a year in Portsmouth as part of my training.”
It’s no surprise that Adam’s love of trains continues into his hobbies – he helps out at the Foxfield Steam Railway near Stoke. And it’s also no surprise that he spent his tax rebate on them – specifically on a Remus miniature steam train which he’s in the process of restoring. It will eventually be used to take passengers for rides on a miniature track at Foxfield.
“The engine’s boiler had a few problems,” explains Adam. “The pipes inside had to be replaced so the tax rebate has funded that. I’ve stripped it, done a full service, repainted it and it’s had a new brake box. When it’s finished it should be able to haul around 20 passengers.
“I love working on it. Some people get to the end of the day and relax with a glass of wine, I like playing with steam engines!”
Each tax year will be recalculated if you enter a claim. This often identifies other overpayments due to incorrect tax codes, multiple employments, ceasing of job, etc. In these cases we can identify a much larger tax rebate. We regularly identify rebates of over £1,000 for customers who were originally estimated a lower amount.
If you claim now you will receive tax relief for the current tax year and future years that allowances continue to apply, paid through your monthly pay, no charge will be made on future tax relief or refunds.
You don't need to make any upfront payment to us in order for us to check if you are due a rebate.
We will ensure that your current year reliefs are correct and that your future year allowances are adjusted in line with the current year to ensure you are no longer being overtaxed. There will be no charge calculated for amending your current tax code and you will receive any tax refunds due in the current year and in future years directly.
If you are due a refund in the 4 previous tax years we will receive that refund from HMRC on your behalf and deduct charges in accordance with those quoted on the website prior to making a payment to you.
Standard deduction is 30% + £30, plus VAT, where due on any refund payment HMRC send us before passing payment on to you. Charges are limited to the previous 4 tax years we check and we will not make any deduction on future tax refunds.
If no refund is due the service is FREE to use. If a refund is due standard pricing is 30% + £30, plus VAT, where due on any refund payment HMRC send us before passing payment on to you. The charge is levied on all refunds received from HMRC covered by the claim period (4 previous years) regardless of reason. When entering a claim you agree to legally and unconditionally assign the rights to any refund for the previous 4 years to OTR, when payment is made to us we will forward the residual balance to you net of our agreed fees. On receipt of the form HMRC will manually reconcile (calculate) your tax liability for each year of your claim. If unreconciled differences are present on your taxpayer record for any year these differences may positively or negatively effect your tax liability on top of the effect of any allowances or expenses claimed for. HMRC perform a more basic automatic reconciliation on taxpayer records from April to November in the tax year following the end of each tax year. By submitting your claim you forgo the rights to any benefits that may have been accrued as a result of HMRC performing an automatic reconciliation, from the date your form is received by HMRC.