It may be that in order to do your job you need to have your name included on a professional register or to have a special licence. Or it could be that it's very helpful to belong to an organisation whose activities are necessary to your work.
Either way you'll pay registration fees or membership subscriptions - usually every year. You may be able to deduct the cost of these from your taxable income and reduce the amount of tax you pay.
You may get tax relief on professional fees and subscriptions if:
you have registered, obtained a licence or become a member of the organisation in question because it's necessary to your work
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has approved the organisation you're a member of
The first thing I note is that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs have ended a sentence on a preposition. Disgraceful!
The second thing is the thing I have a question about, sorry, about which I have a question.
Is it the case that EITHER ONE OF the following criteria:
- a subscription to a particular organisation being necessary to work in that field
OR
-the presence of the organisation on the approved list
is, independently, enough of a reason to get tax relief?
Or is it the case that BOTH criteria have to be fulfilled in order to get tax relief?
If the organisation is not on the approved list you cannot get tax relief.
Officially its both, however the requirement to for "a subscription to a particular organisation being necessary to work in that field" is not applied rigidly. To be a finance director does not require membership of a professional boty in order to work in that field, but HMRC will not refuse the subscription to any financial professional body on the list for tax relief, as it would be beneficial for work as a Finance director. But it does need to "appropriate". So a subscription for a Finance director to say a non financial organisation would have to be justified, prior to being acceptable for tax relief.
