Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 343

Deduction for professional membership fees

Section 343 allows employees to claim a tax deduction from their earnings for fees they must pay to be legally registered, certified or licensed to practise the profession required by their employment.

• Employees may deduct qualifying professional fees from their taxable earnings, provided the registration or licence is a necessary condition for practising the profession their job requires.
• Qualifying fees are listed in a detailed table covering health professionals, legal professionals, architects, teachers, patent and trade mark attorneys, transport sector workers, private security operatives and gambling industry personnel.
• The fees covered include registration fees, practising certificate fees, licence fees and, in some transport cases, related medical or technical examination fees.
• HMRC has the power to add new qualifying fees to the table by order, where it considers the fee is required as a condition of practising a profession.