Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

201 Fees and subscriptions to professional bodies, learned societies etc. U.K.

M1 (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the following may be deducted from the emoluments of any office or employment to be assessed to tax, if defrayed out of those emoluments, that is to say—

(a) any fee or contribution mentioned in subsection (2) below, and

(b) any annual subscription paid to a body of persons approved for the purposes of this section by the Board.

(2) The fees and contributions referred to in subsection (1)(a) above are—

(a) the fee payable in respect of the retention of a name in the Register of Architects;

(b) the fee payable in respect of the retention of a name in the dentists register or in a roll or record kept for a class of ancillary dental workers;

(c) the fee payable in respect of the retention of a name in either of the registers of ophthalmic opticians or in the register of dispensing opticians;

(d) the annual fee payable by a registered patent agent;

(e) the fee payable in respect of the retention of a name in the register of pharmaceutical chemists;

(f) the fee and contribution to the Compensation Fund or Guarantee Fund payable on the issue of a solicitor’s practising certificate; and

(g) the annual fee payable by a registered veterinary surgeon or by a person registered in the Supplementary Veterinary Register.

(3) The Board may, on the application of the body, approve for the purposes of this section any body of persons not of a mainly local character whose activities are carried on otherwise than for profit and are solely or mainly directed to all or any of the following objects—

(a) the advancement or spreading of knowledge (whether generally or among persons belonging to the same or similar professions or occupying the same or similar positions);

(b) the maintenance or improvement of standards of conduct and competence among the members of any profession;

(c) the indemnification or protection of members of any profession against claims in respect of liabilities incurred by them in the exercise of their profession.

(4) If the activities of a body approved for the purposes of this section are to a significant extent directed to objects other than those mentioned in subsection (3) above, the Board may determine that such specified part only of any annual subscription paid to the body may be deducted under this section as corresponds to the extent to which its activities are directed to objects mentioned in that subsection; and in doing so the Board shall have regard to all relevant circumstances and, in particular, to the proportions of the body’s expenditure attributable to the furtherance of objects so mentioned and other objects respectively.

(5) A fee, contribution or subscription shall not be deducted under this section from the emoluments of any office or employment unless—

(a) the fee is payable in respect of a registration (or retention of a name in a roll or record) or certificate which is a condition, or one of alternative conditions, of the performance of the duties of the office or employment or, as the case may be, the contribution is payable on the issue of such a certificate; or

(b) the subscription is paid to a body the activities of which, so far as they are directed to the objects mentioned in subsection (3) above, are relevant to the office or employment, that is to say, the performance of the duties of the office or employment is directly affected by the knowledge concerned or involves the exercise of the profession concerned.

(6) Any approval given and any determination made under this section may be withdrawn, and any such determination varied, so as to take account of any change of circumstances; and where a body is approved for the purposes of this section in pursuance of an application made before the end of any year of assessment, a deduction may be made under this section in respect of a subscription paid to the body in that year, whether the approval is given before or after the end of the year.

(7) Any body aggrieved by the failure of the Board to approve the body for the purposes of this section, or by their withdrawal of the approval, or by any determination made by them under this section or the variation of or refusal to withdraw or vary such a determination may, by notice given to the Board within 30 days from the date on which the body is notified of their decision, require the matter to be determined by the Special Commissioners, and the Special Commissioners shall thereupon hear and determine the matter in like manner as an appeal.

Marginal Citations

M1 Source—1970 s.192