Professional subscriptions

EmmaJ_3

I did a search and found this thread which is a few years old http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=94340&highlight=professional+subs I just wanted to ask is this information still current?

I was told yesterday that I can no longer claim tax back on professional subscriptions myself, but that if my employer pays the subscription on my behalf they can claim the tax back, and it'd be better for me to have my employer pay the subs and take it out of my salary, than have the same amount in my salary, pay tax on it and then have to pay the subs myself without any tax relief. My prospective employer has so far said they will not pay the subs on my behalf.

I have to say this is all quite new & confusing to me, I'm just graduating & have been a student member of 3 professional associations that I intend to continue, plus I have to pay royal college subs in order to be able to practice (the initial registration fee is £208, I can't actually find the information online what annual retention fees are). I find the inland revenue site difficult to find the information on, although all my associations & the royal college are on the list linked to in the above post.

WHA

As long as the professional associations are required for your employment or of direct benefit for your employment then you can claim tax relief for them.

So if you are an accountant, working in an accountancy related job then you can claim tax relief on the subscription to the accountancy body. But if you are an accountant and are working as a labourer on a building site, then you can't claim tax relief on the subscription to the accountancy body.

You have to either write or phone your employers tax office (the reference number will be on your P60 or a notice of coding), tell them which associations, and how much you pay, and they should adjust your tax code.

di35whistles

Just picked up this thread & glad to see tax relief can still be claimed, but I'm not sure which box to put the figures in, can someone tell me please?
Thanks.

Special_Saver2

As long as the organization appears on this list

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

then you are entitled to claim tax relief on the amount paid. Just write in to your tax office and they will adjust your PAYE code accordingly. They will also send you a simple, single page form to fill in each year so that you can keep them up to date with the costs of all your professional subscriptions each tax year. It is very easy, have been doing it for years. Make sure you keep receipts in case Inland Revenue ever want proof (I keep them for at least two tax years back).

Special_Saver2

di35whistles wrote: »

Just picked up this thread & glad to see tax relief can still be claimed, but I'm not sure which box to put the figures in, can someone tell me please?
Thanks.

Sorry, do you mean which box on an income tax return? If you have to fill in a yearly income tax return, there is a space in the employment pages where you can put the total amount you have paid for professional subscriptions. (If you fill in a yearly income tax return then you won't get the simple, single page form that I was describing above as the Inland Revenue use the amount you put on your income tax return to provisionally set your allowance for professional subscriptions on next year's PAYE code.)

Sally_Chambers

WHA wrote: »

As long as the professional associations are required for your employment or of direct benefit for your employment then you can claim tax relief for them.

So if you are an accountant, working in an accountancy related job then you can claim tax relief on the subscription to the accountancy body. But if you are an accountant and are working as a labourer on a building site, then you can't claim tax relief on the subscription to the accountancy body.

You have to either write or phone your employers tax office (the reference number will be on your P60 or a notice of coding), tell them which associations, and how much you pay, and they should adjust your tax code.

Can tax relief be claimed for professional subscriptions after retirement and no longer working?

fengirl_2

No. The basic rule is that expenses can only be set off against the income to which it relates. Therefore, if there is no relevent income, there is nothing against which to set expenses.