Can I claim tax relief on professional fees and subscriptions?
If you pay fees or subscriptions to a professional body or trade union that is approved by HMRC and relevant to your job, you may be able to claim tax relief. The organisation must be on HMRC’s approved list. You claim the relief directly from HMRC.
See everything you may qualify for — benefits, grants, reductions and reliefs — in about 3 minutes. Free to check.
Check what you're owed →Many roles require membership of a professional body or registration with a regulator, and where you pay these fees yourself they can attract tax relief. The key condition is that the organisation appears on HMRC’s approved list of professional bodies and that the membership is relevant to the work you do for your employer.
You can usually only claim for one membership where it is genuinely necessary or helpful for your job, and you cannot claim for life membership fees, fines or anything that is not work-related. If your employer pays the subscription on your behalf, there is nothing for you to claim, since you have not borne the cost.
This relief reduces the income you are taxed on, and because subscriptions recur each year it can be worth setting up so the relief continues automatically. Checking the approved list before you claim avoids wasted effort, and these fees often sit alongside other job-related reliefs for the same role.
How to claim tax relief on professional fees
- Check the approved list. Confirm your professional body or union appears on HMRC’s list of approved organisations and is relevant to your job.
- Confirm you paid the fee. Make sure you paid the subscription yourself and were not reimbursed by your employer.
- Gather your payment records. Keep evidence of the amounts you paid for each year you want to claim.
- Claim from HMRC. Apply through the HMRC service or your Self Assessment return, and check the relief shows in your tax code.
Frequently asked questions
- Which subscriptions qualify?
- Fees to professional bodies or trade unions on HMRC’s approved list, where membership is relevant to your job. Always check the list before claiming.
- Can I claim if my employer pays the fee?
- No. If your employer covers the subscription, you have not paid it yourself, so there is no relief for you to claim.
- Can I claim more than one membership?
- Generally you can only claim for memberships that are genuinely required or relevant to your role. Optional or unrelated memberships do not qualify.
- Does this include union fees?
- Some trade union subscriptions qualify where the union is on the approved list and the membership relates to your job. Check the list to be sure.
MoneyFinder is an independent sign-posting service that helps you find financial support you may be entitled to. We are not a government body and do not provide financial advice. Figures are taken from the official sources cited above and were correct when last checked — always confirm current details on the linked GOV.UK pages.