Can I claim tax relief on an eye test or glasses needed for computer work?

Full answer

Health and safety law (the Display Screen Equipment Regulations) requires employers to offer an eye and eyesight test to employees who use display screen equipment (computers, laptops, tablets used regularly) as a significant part of their job, if the employee requests one. Where this applies, HMRC treats the cost of the eye test paid or reimbursed by the employer as a tax-free benefit, not a taxable benefit in kind. **What is covered tax-free** - The eye and eyesight test itself, if arranged or paid for by the employer for an employee who uses display screen equipment. - Basic corrective glasses or contact lenses, but only where the optometrist's report specifically states they are needed for display screen work (rather than for general everyday vision correction that the employee would need regardless of their job). **What is NOT automatically tax-free** If an employee needs glasses for general use -- for example, ordinary long or short-sightedness unrelated specifically to screen work -- and the employer pays for these, HMRC can treat the payment as a taxable benefit in kind, because it is not solely attributable to the display screen equipment requirement. Similarly, if an employee chooses designer frames or premium lens upgrades well beyond a basic prescription, the employer may only be able to treat the basic cost as tax-free, with anything above that potentially taxable. **Employer's legal duty vs what they choose to fund** Employers are legally required to offer to pay for an eye test if requested by a qualifying display screen equipment user, but there is no legal requirement to pay for glasses at all -- many choose to as a good practice or staff benefit, and where they do so correctly (following the DSE Regulations rationale), it remains tax-free. **Self-employed people** A self-employed person cannot claim the cost of an eye test or glasses as a business expense against their profits, because HMRC treats spectacles and corrective eye care as having a dual purpose (both personal and work use) that fails the "wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade" test, except in very narrow specialist cases (for example, prescription safety goggles required for a specific hazardous job, which is a different category of protective equipment). This is a long-standing and often misunderstood area of self-employed expense rules. **How to claim if your employer will not pay** If your employer refuses to pay for a DSE eye test despite you asking and being covered by the regulations, you cannot personally claim tax relief for the cost through your own Self Assessment or a P87 claim -- the exemption specifically applies to costs met by the employer, not costs an employee pays themselves and is later reimbursed informally, or bears entirely out of pocket. **Worked example** An office worker who spends most of the day on a computer asks their employer for a DSE eye test. The optician charges £25 for the test and confirms in their report that the employee needs reading glasses specifically for screen use, costing a further £60 for a basic pair. The employer pays both costs directly to the optician. Because the test and the glasses are directly linked to display screen work, neither the £25 test fee nor the £60 glasses cost is a taxable benefit in kind for the employee.

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