Tax Relief on Professional Subscriptions — What Can You Claim? — UK 2026/27

You can claim tax relief on professional membership fees and subscriptions — potentially recovering years of overpaid tax. HMRC maintains an approved list of qualifying organisations, and the relief can be backdated 4 years. Here is the full guide for 2026/27.

What Qualifies for Tax Relief

Three conditions must all be met:

1. The professional body is on HMRC’s approved list — search at gov.uk/government/publications/approved-professional-organisations-and-learned-societies
2. Membership is relevant to your current job — a subscription to a legal body qualifies for a solicitor, but not for an accountant doing unrelated work
3. Your employer has not reimbursed the cost — if your employer pays, no relief is available

Common Qualifying Subscriptions

This is a partial list — the full HMRC approved list contains hundreds of professional bodies. If yours is not listed, you cannot claim, but the subscription may still be deductible as a self-employed business expense if you are a sole trader.

How Much Can You Claim?

Tax relief is worth a percentage of the subscription cost equal to your marginal tax rate:

Worked example: Rachel is a higher rate taxpayer and a member of CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). Her annual subscription is £185. She claims tax relief of £185 × 40% = £74/year. She has been paying this for 4 years without claiming — she backdates and claims 4 × £74 = £296 refund.

How to Claim — PAYE Employees

Option 1 — Online (fastest):

1. Go to gov.uk/check-income-tax
2. Sign in to your Personal Tax Account
3. Select “Add a work expense or professional subscription”
4. Enter the professional body name and annual subscription amount
5. HMRC will update your tax code to provide relief going forward, and issue any backdated refund via cheque or bank transfer

Option 2 — Form P87: If you cannot use the online service, complete Form P87 (employment expenses) and post it to HMRC. Allow 8–12 weeks for processing.

Backdating: You can claim for the 4 most recent complete tax years — currently 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26. Each year is submitted as a separate claim.

Self-Employed and Limited Company Directors

Sole traders: Professional subscriptions directly related to your self-employment are a deductible business expense on your Self Assessment return. Include them in the “Allowable business expenses” section. No need to check the HMRC approved list — the test is simply whether the subscription is wholly and exclusively for business purposes.

Limited company directors: The company can pay the subscription and treat it as a business expense, with no benefit-in-kind tax liability if it meets HMRC’s conditions (relevant to the director’s role in the company). A director paying personally and claiming through the company must ensure the expense is approved and reimbursed before year end.

What You Cannot Claim

• Subscriptions to bodies not on HMRC’s approved list
• Subscriptions to general-interest organisations (e.g. trade unions — these have their own separate rules)
• Subscriptions where membership is not relevant to your current job
• Subscriptions fully reimbursed by your employer
• Life membership fees paid as a lump sum (typically not claimable)

Trade Union Subscriptions

Trade union subscriptions are different from professional body subscriptions. Tax relief is not available for trade union fees for PAYE employees — although some unions negotiate with HMRC to offer partial relief through specific agreements. Check directly with your union.

See our income tax guide, backdating PAYE tax relief, and working from home tax relief hybrid guide.

Related Guide

• Employee Benefits & Tax UK 2026/27 — BIK, P11D and Salary Sacrifice