Tax-deductible expenses for locum doctors

Keep a record of registration fees and professional subscriptions you pay yourself. Common examples for locum doctors can include GMC registration and relevant professional-body memberships, such as the BMA or RCGP. The detail matters: HMRC's approved list and the relevance of the membership to your work determine whether a subscription qualifies, and some subscriptions have restrictions.

Keep the invoice or renewal confirmation, the date paid and the amount. If an employer or practice reimbursed the cost, make a note of that too.

A journey record is often more useful than a single annual total. Record the date, purpose of the journey, start and end point, and business miles. For a car or van, self-employed people may choose simplified mileage instead of claiming actual running costs for that vehicle.

Do not combine simplified mileage with actual vehicle running costs for the same vehicle. Other business travel, such as train travel and parking, may need to be considered separately.

Equipment used for your clinical work can require different tax treatment depending on its cost and how it is used. Keep the receipt, a clear description and a note of its business purpose. For significant equipment, capital allowances may be relevant rather than treating the whole purchase as an ordinary expense.

Uniforms and protective clothing needed for work may be allowable. Everyday clothing is not normally allowable, even if you wear it only while working. Keep the receipt and record why the item was necessary for your clinical work.

• Record each expense when you pay it, rather than reconstructing a year from bank statements.
• Keep the receipt or invoice, supplier, date, amount and business purpose.
• Keep mileage journeys separate from any mileage reimbursement you received.
• Review your records by tax year before submitting Self Assessment.

The Expenses area lets you record professional subscriptions, equipment and work clothing alongside your existing sessions. It also brings through session mileage into a visible journey log and calculates a tax-year estimate.