Research carried out by tax refund specialist RIFT has found that up to 518,000 construction employees could be eligible for tax refunds on travel between temporary workplaces.
The research was conducted in order for RIFT to identify how many construction employees could benefit from its services.
Unlike self-employed workers who deduct travel expenses as part of their annual self-assessment tax returns, many PAYE construction operatives like labourers, ground workers and brick layers are failing to claim their expenses back.
In the regions, RIFT calculates that almost £12.5 million of tax refunds go unclaimed in London alone, with a further £4.7 million going unclaimed in both Birmingham and Glasgow.
Jan Post, Managing Director of RIFT, said:
“It’s a national scandal that thousands of hard working people are missing out on tax refunds that are rightfully theirs while some of the richest people have been handed a tax cut in the recent Budget announcement.
“We estimate that there could be as much as £180 million pounds floating around HMRC that could be putting food on peoples’ tables who aren’t earning sky high salaries.”
