Since May 2022, the format of claims for tax relief on employment expenses has been mandated. HMRC’s version of the P87 form must be used for claims made by post.

From 21 December 2022, claims made on P87 forms must include the following information:

• all the details in section 1, except for the title and contact phone number which are optional;
• employer PAYE reference number in section 2. This number can be obtained from personal tax accounts, the HMRC app, P45s or P60s; and
• type of industry in section 2 if the claim includes flat rate expenses.

Any forms that do not include the required information, received on or after 21 December 2022, will be rejected.

The Tax Faculty understands that HMRC is making the change to speed up processing. It means that HMRC staff will not have to find the employer PAYE reference or other information before processing the form.