Buying something because it makes teaching easier does not automatically make it tax deductible. HMRC normally requires the expense to satisfy specific employment rules and to be personally borne by the teacher.
From 6 April 2026 employees can no longer claim an Income Tax deduction for unreimbursed additional household costs of working from home.
What tax relief can teachers claim?
Professional subscriptions
Annual subscriptions to qualifying HMRC-approved professional bodies can potentially qualify where relevant to your teaching employment.
Books
Teacher-purchased books can qualify only where HMRC's necessity and performance-of-duties conditions are satisfied.
Travel between workplaces
Necessary travel between school sites or other qualifying workplaces can potentially qualify.
Recognisable sports kit
Replacement and upkeep can qualify where teaching or supervising sport is a contractual duty and the clothing is recognisably games kit.
Computers and equipment
Relief can potentially apply where equipment is genuinely required for the job and employer-provided facilities are insufficient under HMRC's test.
Homeworking household costs
The employee deduction for unreimbursed additional household expenses was removed from 6 April 2026.
Can teachers claim professional or union subscriptions?
Potentially. HMRC allows relief for personally paid annual subscriptions to approved professional organisations where membership is relevant to the employment.
HMRC's current List 3 contains numerous education organisations and teacher associations.
NASUWT has a specific HMRC restriction
HMRC's current approved list states that tax relief for NASUWT the teachers' union is restricted to two-thirds of the annual membership subscription.
The exact organisation and current HMRC List 3 entry should be checked. Some approved bodies have percentage restrictions, and you cannot claim an amount your employer paid for you.
See our Professional Fees Tax Relief Guide .
Can teachers claim tax relief for books?
HMRC has teacher-specific guidance, but the test is restrictive. A deduction can potentially be allowed where books are necessarily purchased for use in performing the employment duties.
Books necessarily purchased and made available to pupils can potentially fall within HMRC's allowable categories.
Books actually used by the teacher in the classroom can potentially qualify where the necessity test is met.
Books used in actual lesson preparation can potentially qualify, subject to HMRC's restrictive conditions.
The necessity test is generally limited to teaching at GCE A level and above
HMRC says textbooks and materials for courses below that level will usually be supplied by the school or college, so a personal purchase normally fails the necessity test.
Books bought to maintain or improve your general knowledge or qualifications are not deductible simply because they help you become a better teacher.
Can teachers claim classroom supplies they buy themselves?
There is no general tax deduction simply because a teacher voluntarily buys stationery, displays, decorations, rewards or classroom materials that the school does not reimburse.
An expense must satisfy the normal employee test. In practice, a purchase that is useful or desirable but not necessarily incurred in performing the duties can fail that test.
Required specialist materials
There may be scope where you are genuinely required to provide an item yourself and it is used in performing your employment duties.
Voluntary classroom purchases
Personally choosing to improve your classroom does not by itself create an allowable PAYE expense.
Can PE teachers claim sports clothing?
HMRC has specific guidance for teachers who are contractually obliged to teach or supervise physical education or sport.
The cost of replacing and maintaining clothing that is recognisably games kit will normally be allowable where the conditions are met.
Can potentially qualify for a teacher contractually required to teach or supervise PE or sport.
HMRC says a claim should not be rejected merely because modern training shoes can also be worn as ordinary clothing.
Generic T-shirts, sweatshirts or outdoor clothing that cannot be recognised as sports kit do not qualify.
HMRC can investigate excessive claims or expenditure that relates mainly to sport undertaken outside the employee's teaching duties.
Can teachers claim travel between schools or school sites?
Most teachers have limited deductible employment travel because normal travel from home to their permanent school is ordinary commuting.
HMRC does, however, specifically identify travel between sites in a split-site school as an example of potentially allowable travel where the employer does not provide transport.
Necessary travel between sites while performing your duties can potentially qualify.
Travel required in performing the employment or to a qualifying temporary workplace can potentially qualify.
Travel between home and your permanent workplace is ordinary commuting.
The temporary-workplace rules must be considered before assuming the journey qualifies.
See our Parking & Travel Expenses Guide and Temporary Workplace Rules Guide .
Can supply teachers claim travel to school?
HMRC says the school at which a supply teacher is currently working will generally be regarded as their permanent workplace. Home-to-school travel is therefore normally ordinary commuting.
This is especially important for agency supply teachers. Frequently changing schools does not automatically mean every school is a temporary workplace for tax purposes.
Can teachers claim working-from-home tax relief in 2026/27?
No employee deduction for unreimbursed additional household costs from 6 April 2026
For 2026/27, employees can no longer claim an Income Tax deduction from HMRC for additional household costs they personally incur while working from home.
That means teachers doing lesson preparation, reports or marking at home cannot make a new 2026/27 employee deduction for items such as additional heating or electricity under the former homeworking relief.
HMRC's teacher-specific guidance also says that, even before this change, the normal school-teacher contract did not mean teachers were required to provide facilities at home merely because they chose to do marking or lesson preparation there.
HMRC's public service still says eligible employees may claim qualifying homeworking relief for previous tax years where the old conditions were satisfied. The 2026/27 prohibition applies from 6 April 2026.
Can teachers claim laptops and other equipment?
Employees can potentially claim capital allowances on substantial equipment they genuinely have to buy for their job, provided it is needed for work and there is no significant private use.
For teachers, HMRC applies this particularly strictly. It notes that teachers usually have access to employer-provided stationery, reproduction and other facilities.
“It makes me a better teacher” is not enough
HMRC's test is effectively whether the duties could still be carried out using the facilities provided by the school or college. Buying your own laptop because it is faster or more convenient does not automatically create a tax deduction.
HMRC recognises that the position can be different for university academics contractually required to undertake research at degree level or above, where personally supplied equipment may genuinely be required.
Can teachers claim ordinary work clothes?
Generally no. Ordinary clothing suitable for private use does not become tax deductible simply because a school expects a professional appearance or because the clothes are worn only for work.
PE kit and genuinely specialist protective clothing are separate issues and have their own rules.
Can teachers claim training or course fees?
Employee tax relief for personally funded training is restrictive. A course that improves your qualifications or prepares you for a future role does not automatically qualify as an employment expense.
Employer-provided work-related training has separate tax-exemption rules, so a school paying for appropriate training can have a different tax result from a teacher paying personally and trying to claim a deduction.
Teacher professional subscription example
£300 subscription with a two-thirds qualifying restriction
Assume an approved professional subscription costs £300 and HMRC's current listing restricts relief to two-thirds of the annual membership.
The £200 is the deductible amount in this example, not a £200 cash refund. Actual relief depends on the taxpayer's Income Tax position.
What records should teachers keep?
- Professional subscription invoices and payment evidence.
- Employer reimbursement records.
- Travel dates, locations and business purpose.
- Mileage records where applicable.
- Receipts for books or specialist equipment claimed.
- Evidence showing why an item was required for the employment.
- Employment or timetable evidence for split-site or PE duties.
How does a teacher claim tax relief?
Identify costs
Separate subscriptions, travel, books, clothing and equipment.
Check reimbursement
Remove expenses your employer has already paid or reimbursed.
Apply HMRC's rule
Teacher expenses have different qualifying conditions.
Submit correctly
Use HMRC's employee expense route or Self Assessment where applicable.
Reviewed & Updated
18 August 2026
2026/27
PAYE profession guide
HMRC / GOV.UK
Common Teacher Tax Relief Questions
Can teachers claim tax relief on union fees?
Potentially, where the organisation is HMRC-approved, the subscription is relevant to the employment and you personally pay the qualifying amount. Some memberships have percentage restrictions.
Can NASUWT members claim tax relief?
HMRC's current List 3 states that relief for NASUWT the teachers' union is restricted to two-thirds of the annual membership subscription.
Can teachers claim books?
Only in restricted circumstances. HMRC says qualifying books must be necessarily purchased for use in performing the employment duties and applies particularly restrictive rules to school teachers.
Can PE teachers claim sports kit?
Recognisable games kit can potentially qualify where the teacher is contractually required to teach or supervise PE or sport.
Can teachers claim travel between schools?
Necessary travel between qualifying workplaces can potentially qualify. HMRC specifically gives travel between sites in a split-site school as an example.
Can supply teachers claim home-to-school mileage?
Generally not automatically. HMRC says the school at which a supply teacher is currently working will usually be regarded as their permanent workplace.
Can teachers claim working-from-home costs in 2026/27?
No employee deduction is available for unreimbursed additional household homeworking expenses from 6 April 2026.
Can teachers claim a laptop?
Only where the equipment genuinely satisfies the employee capital allowance conditions. HMRC says simply preferring your own equipment to the facilities supplied by the school is not enough.
Official HMRC Sources
This guide is based on current HMRC teacher, employment-expense, professional-subscription and travel guidance.
Work as a teacher and pay job expenses yourself?
Go Tax Refunds can help review your professional subscriptions, employment travel and other PAYE expenses to identify whether tax relief may apply.
