Many professionals such as accountants, lawyers and health professionals are required to make a subscription to a professional body or learned society. HMRC has recently published an updated list of the organisations that they will accept as valid professional bodies.

This list is updated from time to time and the most recent update lists all approved bodies as of 26 April 2024.

The latest revisions to the list saw the following changes:

• The addition of the Archaeology Scotland (with effect from 6 April 2023), Association for Psychodynamic Practice and Counselling in Organisational Settings (with effect from 6 April 2023), International Association of Lighting Designers (with effect from 6 April 2023), Irish Planning Institute and Pilates Foundation. Economics and Business and Enterprise Association has been updated to Economics and Business Enterprise Association.
• The entries for Systems Engineering – UK Chapter International Council on (INCOSE UK) has been updated to Institute for Systems Engineering (IfSE) (transfer of membership from INCOSE UK to IfSE expected to be completed by the end of March 2025 — allow relief for INCOSE UK membership up to 5 April 2025).
• The Football Association Coaches Association has been removed from the list.

A statutory fee or contribution shown in the list is an allowable expense where employees:

• pay this out of their earnings from an employment; and
• are required to pay this as a statutory condition of following their employment.

An annual subscription to a body shown in the list as approved by HMRC is allowable where:

• employees pay this out of their earnings from an employment; and
• the activities of the body are directly relevant to the employment.

The activities of a body are directly relevant to an employment where the performance of the duties of that employment:

• Is directly affected by the knowledge concerned, or
• involves the exercise of the profession concerned.

Source: New feed