Professional Subscriptions tax relief

HMRC publishes a list of professional bodies and learned societies (called List 3) whose membership fees you can deduct from your taxable income. If your subscription is on the list and your employer does not reimburse it, you save your marginal tax rate on the full fee every year. For an ACCA member that is around £52 a year (basic rate) or £104 (higher rate). For a BMA member it is around £100 or £200. Backdate four years and a first-time claim can land an immediate £200 to £1,000.

By Andrey · Updated April 2026 · 4 min read

A small bookshelf corner with three professional hardcover books and a framed plain certificate.

What the relief is

Section 343 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 allows you to deduct from your taxable income the cost of an annual subscription to an approved professional body or learned society, where the subscription is necessary for your employment. The list of approved bodies, called List 3, is published by HMRC and updated each tax year.

The deduction is from your taxable income, so your actual saving is the subscription multiplied by your marginal tax rate.

At a glance

Where the rule lives: ITEPA 2003 s.343
List of approved bodies: HMRC List 3 (~600 bodies)
Saving: Subscription × marginal tax rate
Backdate: Up to four tax years
Cost to claim: Free, on gov.uk
Renewal: Carries forward in your tax code

Who qualifies

Three conditions:

You pay an annual subscription to a body on HMRC List 3.
The subscription is necessary for your employment (you cannot do your job without it, or it is genuinely a requirement of the role).
Your employer does not pay or reimburse the subscription. If they pay part, you can claim on the rest.

How much you actually get (by body)

Indicative figures based on 2026 subscription rates:

ACCA (full): ~£260 subscription. Basic-rate relief £52, higher-rate £104.
BMA (consultant): ~£500 subscription. Basic-rate relief £100, higher-rate £200.
NMC (nurse, midwife): £120 subscription. Basic-rate relief £24, higher-rate £48.
RIBA (Chartered Architect): ~£430 subscription. Basic-rate relief £86, higher-rate £172.
Law Society (solicitor): subscription varies; relief at marginal rate.
Engineering Council (CEng): ~£40 + member institution. Marginal-rate relief on the total.
Royal College memberships (RCP, RCS, RCN, etc.): all on List 3; relief at marginal rate on the published fee.

How to claim it yourself

Use the same online P87 route as uniform tax relief:

Sign in to your Personal Tax Account.
Open "Tax relief for expenses of employment" and select "Professional fees and subscriptions".
Enter the body name (HMRC's system suggests matches from List 3) and the annual fee for each year you want to claim.
Submit. HMRC adjusts your tax code for the current year and pays previous-year refunds by cheque or bank transfer.

If you file Self Assessment, claim the relief in the Employment pages instead. Do not claim in both places.

Backdating four years

Standard four-year rule. A first-time claim in 2026 can cover 2022/23 to 2025/26 plus the current year. For an ACCA member on the basic rate, that is five years × £52 = £260 in lump sum. For a BMA consultant on the higher rate, it is five years × £200 = £1,000. The relief carries forward in your tax code once set, so subsequent years happen automatically.

The traps people fall into

Assuming any membership counts. List 3 is specific. A LinkedIn group, an industry association, or a generic "trade body" is usually not on it.
Forgetting about employer reimbursement. If your employer pays the fee directly or refunds it through payroll, you cannot claim again.
Claiming for retired/student membership. The relief is tied to current employment. Membership during a career break is hard to defend if challenged.
Engaging a refund firm. Same pattern as uniform relief: 25 to 40 per cent of refund for a five-minute form. Free at gov.uk.

How Untap helps

Talk to Nell, our voice agent. She matches the body you name against List 3, calculates the marginal-rate relief based on your tax band, and points you at the correct gov.uk service. We do not file the P87 for you; the form is yours.

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Questions readers ask

How do I check if my professional body is on List 3?

HMRC publishes the full alphabetical list at gov.uk/professional-bodies-approved-for-tax-relief-list-3. It runs to about 600 organisations and is updated each tax year. If your body is not listed, the relief does not apply, even if the subscription is genuinely necessary for your work.

My employer reimburses some of the fee. Can I claim the rest?

You can claim relief on the portion you actually paid out of your own pocket. If the employer reimburses 50 per cent, you claim relief on the other 50 per cent.

Do union subscriptions qualify?

Some do, some do not. Trade unions are on List 3 only if they have agreed a specific percentage of the subscription that relates to professional matters with HMRC. Check the list rather than assuming.

I belong to two professional bodies. Can I claim relief on both?

Yes, as long as both are on List 3 and both are genuinely required for your work. The full fee for each qualifies.

Does this apply if I am a member but not actively practising?

The test is whether the subscription is paid in connection with your employment. If you are between roles or career-breaking but maintaining membership for future work, HMRC has been increasingly strict about this. The cleanest case is "I need this membership to do my current job".

Check if you can get money back

Check your subscriptions

Free with a sign-in, and we take no percentage. The wizard checks the rules against your situation; the claim itself stays with you.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Read the scheme's own rules before sending a claim. If a number here looks wrong, tell us and we will correct it: how we handle corrections.