Support for Subscriptions
Useful things to know to help you with your application for funding
Subscriptions fall into two categories: publications and subscriptions to institutions.
As long as the publication is made available to all members of the department, it may be considered for support.
Personal subscriptions to publications (at reduced rates) which are then shared across departments are not permitted, as they infringe copyright law.
Institutions to which subscriptions are made must provide some form of educational assistance and fall may be considered for support.
Personal subscriptions to institutions (e.g. to a Royal College) which are accepted by HMRC as tax allowable deductions from an employee’s income will not be eligible for support. Subscriptions paid by employees are usually tax deductible if they are:
- a statutory condition of holding their NHS position (e.g. a consultant surgeon must belong to the Royal College of Surgeons)
- otherwise directly relevant to the person’s employment.
For reference, www.hmrc.gov.uk/list3/index.htm lists all organisations whose subscriptions qualify for tax relief. Besides the Medical Royal Colleges, the list includes many other bodies such as the British Institute of Radiology and British Cardiovascular Society.