UNISON Tax Rebate for Healthcare Members
A UNISON tax rebate covers part of your union subscription, not all of it. HMRC’s approved list allows relief on 70% of the annual subscription for UNISON’s Healthcare Sector, covering nursing, ambulance and technical A and B professionals. The subs must have come from your own money, in a year when you paid income tax.
Being in UNISON and working in the NHS isn’t quite enough on its own. What decides it is the job you do, and the wording on HMRC’s list is where that line gets drawn.
This page explains who that wording covers, how to check where you sit, and what the relief is worth. The answer turns on your role within UNISON’s Healthcare Sector, whether the subs came from your own money, and your tax position that year.
If you’re on the NMC register, you can claim the NMC fee separately, as the NMC tax rebate page explains, and that fee isn’t cut to 70%. Check both before you claim.
Who the UNISON tax rebate covers
The UNISON entry on HMRC’s approved list is for its Healthcare Sector. It names nursing, ambulance, and technical A and B professionals, and for them 70% of the annual subscription is tax deductible. The remaining 30% gets no relief.
The wording has changed over time. HMRC’s change log shows the entry in 2021 also named voluntary sector members and senior and general managers, and it records a further amendment in February 2026. Today’s wording doesn’t include those groups, so if your role isn’t clearly named, check with HMRC before you claim.
Two general conditions apply as well. Relief covers only subs you paid yourself, not anything an employer met, and there has to have been income tax paid in the year concerned.
Checking your UNISON tax relief status
If you’re not sure whether your role is covered, work through these checks:
- Compare your job with the wording of HMRC’s entry: nursing, ambulance, and technical A and B professionals.
- If your role isn’t clearly covered, ask your UNISON branch how it fits, and check with HMRC, which decides the claim.
- Find what you paid in each tax year from payslips or bank statements, because HMRC asks for evidence of the amount.
If your role falls outside that wording, the entry doesn’t cover your subs. If your role is covered, the 70% applies to what you paid in each tax year you claim for.
What 70% of your subs is worth
Take annual subs of £240 as an example. Seventy per cent of that is £168, and at a 20% tax rate the relief comes to £33.60 for the year.
Treat £240 as a stand-in: union subs, tax rates and HMRC’s percentage can change from year to year. If your income tax for the year was less than £33.60, the relief shrinks to match it, in line with the rules on tax relief for employees.
The present tax year and four previous ones are all open to a claim, with HMRC settling the older years through your tax code or a UNISON tax refund.
RCN membership is claimed under its own entry, explained on the RCN tax rebate page.
Entering 70% on a UNISON tax relief claim
Once you know your role is covered:
- Total each tax year’s subs, leaving out anything an employer met.
- Claim 70% of that total rather than the full amount: where only part of a subscription counts, HMRC’s guidance has the body telling members what’s admissible.
- Use the GOV.UK service called Check if you can claim work related expenses; if you complete a Self Assessment return, the claim goes there.
A postal form works for yearly totals of £2,500 or less, and above that the claim has to go on a return.
If you’d rather post your claim, the healthcare worker tax rebate guide shows how.
Making your UNISON tax rebate claim
A UNISON tax rebate applies to 70% of the subs you paid, but only if your role falls within the Healthcare Sector groups named on HMRC’s list. Check that first, then gather your payment records for each year. If you’re unsure where you sit, ask your branch and, if it’s still unclear, HMRC.
For each tax year, start from what left your own pay, take 70% of it, and multiply by your tax rate. Earlier years use that year’s subs and rate.
Keep the payslips or statements you used, since they’re your evidence. The healthcare tax rebate FAQs cover the other unions and colleges.
Key Takeaways
- UNISON’s Healthcare Sector entry on HMRC’s list allows relief on 70% of the subscription.
- The entry names nursing, ambulance, and technical A and B professionals.
- Subs an employer met are excluded, and relief can’t outrun the income tax you paid.
- Every tax year back to the fourth before this one can be included.
- If your role isn’t clearly within that wording, check with your UNISON branch or HMRC before claiming.
Written by:
Tax Rebate Services Editorial Team
Reviewed by:
Tony Shanks, qualified Taxation Technician (ATT)
This page provides general information, not personalised tax advice. Tax rules and allowances change — for help with your own circumstances, speak to a qualified adviser or HMRC.
