Security tax relief guide

In short

• Travel between sites and to short assignments in your own car is claimable.
• Uniform laundering £60 a year.
• The SIA licence fee is claimable if you paid it and were not repaid.
• Traffic management operatives moving between road closures often build up high work mileage.

Want the figures for your claim? See our security tax rebate page, or check what you are owed in 60 seconds.

Site to site travel

Security and traffic management work is rarely one fixed site. Each short assignment is usually a temporary workplace, so the journey from home counts, unless an agency places you under supervision, direction or control. One permanent site for years does not.

Uniform and kit

Wash your own uniform: £60 flat rate. PPE such as boots, gloves and hi-vis is not claimable: your employer should provide it or repay you.

Meals at temporary sites

Meals bought while working away from your normal base, at actual cost. HMRC's benchmark rates are what an employer can pay tax-free, not what you claim yourself. Food and subsistence.

Worked example

Lee, traffic management, 8,000 miles a year between road closures, nothing paid. £3,600 relief, £720 tax back a year, £2,880 over 4 years, £1,584 after fee.

Questions

Can I claim the SIA licence?

Yes. HMRC lists the SIA licence fee as an allowable fee for private security workers, so you can claim what you paid yourself.

Two employers?

Common in security. It all counts and we check both for BR over-taxing. Second job tax.

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