Professional memberships

Lomcevak

I'm a member of two professional bodies (chartered status with one), and pay the membership fees myself (i.e. they aren't reimbursed by the company I work for). Both are around £100 per year, one is directly related to my day-to-day job, the other less so. FWIW I'm a basic rate taxpayer, but will likely reach the 40% bracket in the next year or two.

I've been told I could count these as a tax deduction on a self-assessment form, but I don't do one - all my tax is done through PAYE. So does anybody know:

- Can I claim these as a tax deduction? If so, how do I go about it? Do I need to ask for self-assessment each year?

- Can I claim both, or just the one that is directly relevant to my job? The other is relevant to my academic qualifications (PhD level) and i've kept it in case I ever look to move back in the future.

- I've held membership for some time (greater than 10 years for each), is it possible to backdate a claim? if so, how long?

Thanks in advance

withabix

Phone HMRC on the number on your Notice of coding or write to them.

They will add the cost of these memberships to your tax code IF they are allowable (not all are). You will need to phone every year to get the increased subscription put on your tax code otherwise it will stay the same.

You can reclaim for the previous 6 years (at your tax rate at the time) - you should not need to do a Self Assessment/Tax Return.

bobthedambuilder

There is a very good chance that the subscription to the professional body associated with your job will be allowable (my guess would be the chartered one). Membership doesn't need to be a condition of your employment, as long as it's relevant. I'm not so sure about the academic one, if you're no longer in academia, but it's worth a try.

Phone / write to HMRC with details. Ideally, you should have copies of the fee receipts or other proof of payment in case they ask. You can also backdate your claim for previous years.

BoGoF

Your first port of call is to check and see if the bodies are on HMRC's 'List 3'

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/list3/index.htm

Lomcevak

BoGoF wrote: »

Your first port of call is to check and see if the bodies are on HMRC's 'List 3'

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/list3/index.htm

Thanks for the link, both are listed there. The chartered one is the one that's relevant to my day job, so hopefully I can claim that. Although the other (academic) one isn't directly relevant, I also still hold an (unpaid) faculty research position at a UK university, so may be able to argue it.

BoGoF

Lomcevak wrote: »

Thanks for the link, both are listed there. The chartered one is the one that's relevant to my day job, so hopefully I can claim that. Although the other (academic) one isn't directly relevant, I also still hold an (unpaid) faculty research position at a UK university, so may be able to argue it.

You won't if it's unpaid I'm afraid.