Early Year Expense Claims for Doctors

When a doctor starts to think about business expenses, they often consider expenses incurred in earlier tax years. Our salaried GP clients have trained over several years. During this time it is common to have never completed a tax return and never to have claimed a tax rebate in respect of professional fees and subscriptions. Often a doctor will have paid subscriptions to the GMC, the BMA and to a professional indemnity insurer over several years.

Depending on individual circumstances, a significant tax rebate is often due. It is possible to make a tax rebate claim up to four years in arrears, so clearly this needs to be done at the right time or else you lose the opportunity.

Be careful – sometimes a tax refund can become a liability

When a claim of this nature is submitted this automatically leads the Revenue to recalculate the PAYE deducted in earlier years. If, therefore, you have changed jobs at any time in the previous tax years or if your employer has operated an incorrect tax code then it is possible for a taxpayer to find themselves with an additional tax liability rather than a tax refund.

If you are not completely sure that the Revenue have already reviewed the earlier years then we strongly advise against submitting a claim of this nature without first asking us to calculate if there is any underpayment that you are not aware of.

You will know that the Revenue have looked into an earlier year if they have sent you a form P800 or a claim for payment or refund for a particular year.

How we can help with tax rebates

We help by advising the doctor what professional expenses are tax deductible and advising the best way to claim the tax rebate. We often provide a pro-forma letter for our clients to complete and submit to HMRC themselves.