Claims by individuals for income tax relief.
Tax relief can be claimed on fees or subscriptions paid to approved professional organisations where an individual must have membership to do their job or it’s helpful for their work.
The claims are under sections 343 and 344 ITEPA 2003 and in the Employment Income Manual EM 32915 it is stated that a deduction may not be given in respect of:
- a fee or contribution not included in List 3
- an annual subscription to a body that has not been approved by the board
- an entrance fee or a life membership subscription
- a fee, contribution or subscription borne by the employer, unless the payment by him is treated as earnings.
List 3 contains a large number of bodies and is regularly updated with additions and removals.
The guidance also states that ‘normally it will be apparent from the nature of the person’s employment whether the fee or contribution is paid as a statutory condition of exercising the employment, or whether membership of the approved body to which the annual subscription is paid is relevant to the employment. Where membership does not seem directly relevant you should consider whether the nature of the duties is such that a deduction is nevertheless allowable.’
It is also stated that ‘Time should not be spent in making enquiries regarding the relevance of a subscription unless membership of the body appears to be quite unrelated to the employment’.
Article from ACCA In Practice