Subscriptions Tax Allowance

Lots of different types of professions require employees to pay subscription fees to be able to do their job. These can also be called professional fees or union fees.

The fees have to relate to your job and the company you pay the fees to must be on the HMRC professional fees list. But you’d be surprised how many unions and professional fee companies are listed!

As long as the company you pay to are on the approved list and the fees relate to the job you’re employed to do, then you could be eligible to claim for the last 4 years as a backdated refund.

The refund amount depends on the amount you’ve paid. For example, a nurse could pay a monthly union fee to the RCN, an annual NMC registration fee and also a Nursing Standard subscription. These three subscriptions alone could be over £250 a year so if you haven’t previously claimed and you’ve done the same job and paid the same fees for the last 4 years, it could add up fairly quickly.

In some circumstances, HMRC will automatically apply the allowance to your tax account every year so you’ll receive the benefit for years to come, as long as your job stays the same.

Whether you work part time or full time, as long as you pay tax over the course of the tax year, you’re eligible to claim. Also remember, if you’re a couple and you both pay subscriptions, even if they’re different jobs, you can both submit claims as tax is based on individual circumstances so you could both receive a payment.