Claims for income tax relief for professional fees and subscriptions are made under EIM 32915.
If you belong to a professional body or a Union you might be able to claim income tax relief on that cost. But first, the professional body must apply to be part of this agreement with HMRC. After a professional body has received approval from HMRC, it is responsible for telling its members that they are now entitled to claim tax relief on the fee, contribution or subscription cost.
How to claim your professional fees tax rebate
If you are a member of such an organisation you will have make a claim. The tax relief will not be automatically refunded to you. You can make a claim through correspondence, a P87 or on your tax return if you fill one in.
HMRC are of the opinion that it will be quite obvious if the cost is a statutory element of the taxpayer’s employment. They also seem to consider that the relevance of any professional body to the actual job being done is also a matter of simple common sense and advises against wasting time investigating this unless there is an absence of any connection between the two.
The further suggestion is that the duties of the employment, not just a job title, should be taken into consideration. For example, professionals with a management role may well belong to their profession’s governing body and also subscribe to a management organisation. In which case, they would be entitled to a deduction on both of those costs, as they are both relevant to their current job.
If you are a self-employed taxpayer then you will pay income tax on your Trading Income as well as your personal income. It is important to note that you cannot claim the same deduction on both taxes. In other words, if you claim your professional fees from your personal income tax, then you can’t claim the same amount again on your Trading Income tax.
You are not entitled to this form of tax relief if;
- You are paying a life membership or entrance fee.
- The professional body you belong to is not approved by the board.
- The specific contribution or fee is not on HMRC’s List 3 (See Gov.UK)
- Your employer pays the fee for you. (Unless this payment is then treated as ‘earnings’.)
