HMRC is very strict about claiming expenses against your employment income. The general rule is that they must be incurred 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' in the performance of your duties.
That being said, doctors have the greatest scope for claiming expenses on their self-assessment due to long training contracts and specialist duties. This blog post highlights the top 5 claimable expenses along with some helpful links. This will help you to reduce your tax bill.
BIG NOTE - you can only claim for these expenses if you have paid for them yourself. Also, if your employer has paid for them or reimbursed you for them, they are not claimable!
1. Professional Memberships
This is the biggest one to claim for. A list of eligible professional bodies can
be found on the HMRC website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/professional-bodies-approved-for-tax-relief-list-3
This includes BMA, GMC, MDU and Royal College fees. It's reassuring to have an official HMRC list to refer to but it is not intuitive to search for. The BMA is down as "Medical Association British" and the GMC is down as "Medical Council General".
2. Medical Indemnity Insurance
Medical indemnity insurance is a mandatory part of being a doctor and this is also claimable. Helpfully, the Medical Protection Society is also on the approved eligible bodies list in the link about.
3. Examination Fees and Training Courses
The frequency and expense of exam fees for a doctor is a big pain point. This used to be harder to claim for and older online articles about this will say it is not possible. Fortunately, this is now easier and HMRC have updated their guidance on claiming education costs and have a specific list of medical exam costs that can be claimed for.
The full HMRC guidance on employment education costs is here: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32535
The key principles to remember is that training is should be an intrinsic part of the contractual duties of the employment. A doctor on a training contract would meet these criteria. A doctor who is not on a training contract and tries to claim exam fees would not.
Even more helpfully, HMRC have published a list of training courses specific to the medical profession that are eligible for tax relief: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32540
4. Mileage
This is one to be careful with. You can never claim travel costs to your usual place of work, such as a hospital. Moreover, if your contract involves working at several hospital then the same principle applies. There are some scenarios where you can claim mileage:
temporary and irregular travel, e.g. being on call to a non-contractual place of work
emergency call-outs starting at the home, but going towards a non-habitual destination, such as a patient in their own home or care home
travel to attend training courses (see above) where there is no duality of purpose, i.e. you are just going for training
The currently approved mileage rates for cars are 45p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter.
Mileage is a subjective area, particularly self-employed GP locums, for example. This is one to speak to your accountant about.
5. Scrubs!
This won't be the biggest expense to claim. Specialist equipment and clothing are claimable if they are required for your job. Examples are: scrubs, specialist footwear, operating glasses and stethoscopes. You can claim the cost of laundering scrubs, but make sure you keep receipts.
Keeping receipts for these smaller expenses falls in the "is it worth my time" category. As an alternative, you can claim a flat rate deduction without keeping receipts.
For uniforms, work clothing and tools, this is £80 a year. See the other category under "Health and care staff employed by the National Health Service, private hospitals, local authorities and independent care providers" in this HMRC link
For laundry costs this is £80 per year. See category 4 in EIM66795
I'm a busy doctor, what do I do now?
You have three options:
Fill out a P87 expense claim if you don't want to do a full self assessment using this link
Complete your own self-assessment and read this blog post if you want to decide if you should do your own self assessment
Talk to Alongside Accounting to get help filing your self assessment!
Disclaimer
Boring but important. The tax rates and reliefs mentioned in this blog were correct at the time of posting (January 2024) and for this tax year (2023/24). It has not been updated for any future changes in tax law or HMRC practice. The contents of this blog have been produced as a helpful reference point and the information provided should be used as a guide only. You should discuss your specific circumstances directly with us before taking any action based on the information included in this blog.
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