Professional Subscriptions & Memberships — New Zealand Tax Rules

Claim fees for professional bodies, industry organisations, and practising certificates related to your NZ work.

Claimable: Fully claimable · Tax authority: Inland Revenue

Inland Revenue Rules

• Subscriptions to professional bodies and industry organisations directly related to your income-earning activity are fully deductible.
• Practising certificate fees and professional registration costs required to carry on your profession are claimable.
• Trade association memberships and industry body fees are deductible.
• Professional journals, trade publications, and research databases relevant to your work are claimable.
• Social clubs, sports clubs, or personal hobby memberships with no business purpose are NOT deductible.
• Coworking space memberships are deductible as an office cost if used for business work.

Limits

No cap — subscriptions must be incurred in earning your assessable income from your profession or trade.

Worked Example

Ngaire is a freelance architect. She pays: NZIA annual subscription NZ$620, practising certificate fee NZ$150, Architectural Record journal NZ$95, and project management software membership NZ$480. Total claim: NZ$1,345. Each is directly required for or related to her architecture practice.

Record Keeping

• Keep membership invoices and annual renewal receipts
• Document the relevance of each subscription to your income-earning activity
• Record practising certificate and professional registration fee payments
• Note the membership period for correct tax year allocation
• Keep journal subscription receipts and note the business relevance

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I claim industry conference memberships and access passes?

Yes. Memberships to professional organisations that provide access to industry events, conferences, and resources are deductible if directly related to your income-earning work.

Are professional exam and re-registration fees deductible?

Exam fees for maintaining existing registration or advancing within your current profession (CPD exams) are generally deductible. Initial qualification costs for an entirely new profession may not be. Once you are practising, registration renewal costs are deductible.

Can I claim a coworking space membership?

Yes. A coworking space used for business work is a fully deductible office cost — whether you pay daily, monthly, or annually. Keep the invoices or receipts from the coworking provider.

Are software platform memberships (Slack, Figma, Notion) deductible?

Yes. Software subscriptions and platform memberships used for business work — project management, collaboration tools, design platforms — are deductible business expenses in the year they are paid.

How do professional subscriptions interact with GST and myIR?

If you are GST-registered (required above NZ$60,000 taxable turnover), you can claim back the 15% GST on NZ subscription invoices that include GST — file this through your GST return in myIR. The net (ex-GST) subscription cost is then also a deductible expense in your IR3. Overseas subscriptions (Slack, Figma, Notion) typically have no NZ GST, so the full amount is your deductible cost.