NIM05695 - Class 1 NICs: Expenses and allowances: Membership of a professional body - payment of fees or subscriptions
Regulation 25 and paragraph 11 of Part 10 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No 1004)
Do not include in gross pay for NICs purposes any payment of, or contribution towards, any fee or annual subscription to a professional body or learned society if it is excluded from liability for tax by virtue of either section 343 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) (Deduction for professional membership fees) or section 344 of ITEPA 2003 (Deduction for annual subscriptions). Before 6 April 2003 these tax exemptions were contained in section 201 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (ICTA 1988).
Regulation 25 and paragraph 11 of Part 10 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 specifically provide for such payments to be disregarded when calculating earnings for NICs purposes.
See EIM32880 onwards for guidance on the payments which can be excluded by virtue of sections 343 and 344 of ITEPA 2003.
See NIM05659 for information regarding the extension of the NICs disregard to the cost of criminal record checks required for airport staff, and NIM06175 for information about the extension to security licence fees.
Position from 6 April 2016
From 6 April 2016, the NICs disregard in paragraph 11 of Part X of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 will not be available if the costs are met by the employer through a salary sacrifice arrangement, an unapproved scale rate, or as part of a round sum allowance (see NIM05015 ).