Tax refund,without the catch.

DIY via gov.uk is free. Commission-based tax-refund agents typically charge 30-40% of the refund value (so a £1,000 refund nets you £600-£700 after their fee). We charge a flat £99 regardless of refund size, with chartered-accountant review. If your refund is under about £200, DIY is usually the better economic choice — we'll tell you that honestly.

Generally 4 tax years. For 2026/27 (current year), you can claim back to and including the 2022/23 tax year. The deadline for the 2022/23 claim is 5 April 2027. After 4 years, the claim is statute-barred (Section 43 Taxes Management Act 1970) — HMRC will refuse it.

Typically 4-8 weeks from a successful claim, paid directly to your bank account. Online claims via the Personal Tax Account are often quicker (2-4 weeks). Paper claims (P87 form, for example) sometimes take 8-12 weeks. We submit electronically wherever possible to speed things up.

Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpayer (income under the £12,570 personal allowance) transfer £1,260 of their allowance to a basic-rate (20%) taxpayer spouse or civil partner. Worth £252/year, backdated 4 years to total up to £1,260. Eligibility: you're married or in a civil partnership; one earns under £12,570; the other earns £12,571-£50,270 (i.e. basic rate). Higher-rate (40%+) taxpayers cannot benefit.

For employees required to work from home: £6/week tax relief (£312/year of relief, worth £62.40 to basic-rate taxpayers, £124.80 to higher-rate). For 2026/27, HMRC tightened rules — only employees genuinely required to work from home (not those who choose to) qualify. Claims for 2020/21 and 2021/22 (COVID years) were more lenient and you can still backdate claims to those years.

Yes if you wear a specific uniform (not just a dress code) and pay to clean it yourself. HMRC's flat-rate scheme gives £60-£140/year of relief depending on industry (nurses £125, healthcare workers £100, mechanics £120, etc.). Worth £12-£56/year in actual refund. Backdate 4 years for up to £224 cumulative.

If you pay annual fees to an HMRC-approved professional body (Bar Council, ICAEW, BMA, NMC, IET, RIBA, RCN, etc.) and they relate to your job, you can claim tax relief. HMRC publishes a list of approved bodies. Worth 20-45% of the fee depending on your tax band. Backdate 4 years.

Very unlikely. Legitimate refund claims based on standard reliefs (marriage allowance, uniform, working-from-home, professional fees) are processed routinely by HMRC. They're not flags for enquiry. If your claim is unusually large or complex, there's a marginal risk of HMRC asking for evidence — we keep full documentation for every claim, so any verification request is straightforward to handle.

You can, and many people should — we'll tell you so if your situation is straightforward. The £99 covers: identifying every relief you're entitled to (most DIY claimants miss things), preparing HMRC-acceptable evidence, filing correctly across 4 tax years, and a chartered accountant's review. If your total potential refund is under about £200, DIY is usually the right call. Above that, the £99 typically pays for itself in catches.

Because the maths punishes you. A 30-40% commission on a £2,000 refund is £600-£800 — six to eight times what we charge. The commission model also incentivises agents to maximise claims rather than file accurate ones, which is one reason HMRC has tightened controls in this space (some of the worst agents have been struck off as agents under HMRC's new agent standards). Flat fee = no incentive misalignment.

Yes — Ailo Accounting is regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Every refund claim is reviewed by a chartered accountant before filing. We carry professional indemnity insurance, are AML-supervised by ICAEW, and never act as your ongoing HMRC agent without explicit instruction.