BIM54040 - Doctors and dentists: treatment of expenses

Hospital medical and dental staff sometimes use their own equipment in connection with professional services outside the scope of their contract of employment. If they do, an allowance may be made for the full cost of maintenance and Capital Allowances in arriving at their trading profits from a profession. This is provided that the use of such apparatus for the purposes of their employment is insubstantial.

A hospital doctor in the NHS is reimbursed on a mileage basis for the use of a motor car on official journeys. In the case of a part-time doctor, the mileage allowance includes travelling between the private consulting room or residence and the hospital at which the doctor is employed, up to a distance of ten miles each way. Although in theory such payments fall to be taken into account in determining the charge as employment income, provided they do not exceed the amount of approved mileage payments, they can be paid tax-free (see EIM31230 onwards).

Following the general practice set out at BIM42526, the costs incurred by self-employed doctors in achieving revalidation under the GMC process are allowable in computing their profits for tax purposes. This process ensures that the doctors keep up to date in their skills/professional knowledge.