Business expenses are the running costs of your business. These cover the things you need to buy in order to keep the business going, including office space, vehicles and computer software, to name a few.
When you’re running a business, you should keep a record of all of your business-related purchases, usually referred to as “allowable expenses” or “tax deductible expenses”, so you can fill out your self-assessment tax return at the end of the tax year for the right amount. This could lower the total tax that you pay, so it’s worth doing. We detail some of the things that count as allowable expenses below.
Which business expenses are tax deductible?
Costs that can be claimed as allowable expenses include:
- Office costs. This could be the cost of rent for your office, any stationery you use, printing and phone bills.
- Travel. This includes any fuel and parking costs as well as train and bus fares (but not for travelling to and from work).
- Clothing. You can deduct the cost of uniforms and the laundry costs of cleaning the uniforms if you are the one that cleans them.
- Staff. If you have any staff that you pay a salary to or the costs of contractors.
- Stock. This includes raw materials or stock that you purchase with the intention of selling on.
- Bank charges and insurance. Any charges that your business bank account has and the cost of business insurance or insurance related to the business (such as vehicle insurance).
- Marketing costs. This includes the costs of your website, social media advertising, printing costs and business cards.
- Training. The costs of training that relate to your business. For example, if you run a hair salon, you can’t claim allowable expenses for a training course for an estate agency (unless you’re planning on opening the first hair salon estate agency in the UK).
Office, equipment and stationery
You can claim allowable expenses for stationery and office equipment that is used in the running of the business. These include:
- Phone bills
- Internet bills
- Postage costs
- Stationery
- Printing (paper and ink cartridges)
- Software you use for your business
- Rent
- Utility bills
- Insurance
- Security
Travel and vehicle expenses
Travel and vehicle costs related to the running of your business are allowable expenses. For example, if you are a window cleaner, then travelling to a client’s home to clean their windows is an allowable expense. The cost of travel to and from your office is not an allowable expense.
Other travel and vehicle expenses include:
- Insurance (travel and vehicle)
- Vehicle repairs and servicing
- Fuel
- Parking
- Licence fees
- Train, bus and taxi fares
- Hotel rooms and meals for overnight trips
Clothing and laundry expenses
If you need to buy any clothing for the running of your business, you can do so. These include:
- Uniforms
- Personal protective clothing (PPE)
- Costumes (for actors and entertainers)
With laundry costs, if you are the one that cleans the uniforms, then you can deduct the cost of this. If your staff clean their own uniforms at home then they can deduct the cost of laundry from their income tax. Your staff can check if they are eligible on the HMRC website.
Everyday clothing, regardless of if you wear it for work, is not an allowable expense.
Staff expenses
Hiring staff comes with added costs. These can be claimed as business expenses and include:
- Salaries
- Bonuses
- Pensions
- Employee benefits
- Agency costs
- Contractor fees
- National Insurance
- Training courses and exams
Before you get too excited, note that you can’t deduct your own salary, National Insurance, pension or income tax.
Legal and financial expenses
You may need to hire a lawyer or accountant to assist with the running of your business. If you’re running a limited company, then by law you need an accountant to sign off on your annual accounts. The costs of these services are included as allowable expenses as long as they’re business-related.
Business bank accounts don’t tend to be completely free, but you can claim allowable expenses for:
- Overdraft charges
- Credit card charges
- Interest on loans
- Bank account charges
- Leasing charges
What if I use something for both my business and personal reasons?
This might occur if you use your personal mobile phone for business calls. In this case, you can only claim allowable expenses for the costs relating to your business. Taking the example of your mobile phone, if 50% of the cost relates to the business, then you can deduct 50% as allowable expenses.
What if I work from home?
If you have the privilege of a 20-second commute to your sofa in the morning, you may be wondering if you’re losing out on tax benefits. You may be able to claim some of your home costs as allowable business expenses. This gets a little complex, as the amount you can deduct depends on how much of the house you use and how much time you spend working from home.
For example, if you use one of the four rooms in your home for your business, you can split the relevant bills by four to work out your allowable expense. If you only work from home for half of your time, then you’d further divide the cost by two.
Expenses you might be able to deduct if you work from home:
- Rent or mortgage interest
- Electricity and heating bills
- Council tax
- Broadband costs
What are simplified expenses?
If you’d prefer to avoid complicated spreadsheets and formulas, there are flat rates for some expenses. It’s up to you and your business whether you want to use this simplified expenses option. If any of your expenses aren’t included below, you’ll need to work them out with receipts, the traditional way.
How do simplified expenses work?
Simply record your business miles, how much time you spend working from home and the number of people that live at your business premises in any given month.
At the end of the tax year, work out your expenses using the flat rates and input this into your self-assessment tax return.
What are the flat rates for the 2023/2024 tax year?
Vehicles
Vehicle type | Flat rate per mile |
---|---|
Cars and goods vehicles (first 10,000 miles) | 45p |
Cars and goods vehicles (after 10,000 miles) | 25p |
Motorcycles | 24p |
Working from home
Hours used for business per month | Flat rate per month |
---|---|
25 to 50 | £10 |
51 to 100 | £18 |
101 and above | £26 |
People living at your business premises
When people are living at your business premises – for example, if you own a bed and breakfast – you need to deduct the flat rate from the total expenses of the business. If someone only lives at the premises for two months, you only count these months in your calculation.
Number of people living on the premises | Flat rate per month |
---|---|
1 | £350 |
2 | £500 |
3 or more | £650 |
What are disallowable expenses?
Expenses that aren’t related to the running of your business are strictly disallowable, such as everyday clothing, donations to charity and your salary (as the business owner).
The cost of entertaining potential or current clients is a disallowable expense. This includes food, drink, sporting events and theatre trips, among others.
How do business expenses affect tax?
The amount of tax you pay will depend on your profit, not how much revenue you bring in. This means that you deduct your expenses from your turnover. This amount is what your tax is worked out with.
This is likely to lower your tax bill, so it’s worth checking if you’ve made any transactions that are allowable expenses over the tax year, to ensure that you’re not overpaying on tax.
How do I claim business expenses?
From day one, keep all of your receipts, regardless of whether you think it’s an allowable expense. It’s a good idea to keep them all listed somewhere, such as in a spreadsheet with the total costs and the transaction dates. It’s useful to have a folder with all your receipts, and you can also have them scanned into your computer in case you need them.
When you do your self assessment tax return, enter the total costs of your allowable expenses on it. You may need to go back through your receipts to check that they’re all allowable. You won’t necessarily need to show any proof of these expenses, but you should keep hold of them in case HMRC asks you for them.
How to track business expenses
If you know how to create a basic spreadsheet, then this can help you keep track of the expenses you incur for your business.
It’s best to do this as soon after the purchase as you can, otherwise you’ll find yourself searching for and trying to decipher receipts with days to go before your tax assessment is due.
There are apps that can help you out here. Some business accounts offer integrated accounting software, such as Revolut, Starling and Tide. When you’re opening a business bank account, have a look at the integrations it has to see if any of these work for you.
Frequently asked questions
More guides on Finder
-
OneMoneyWay business account review
We take a look at the pros and cons of the OneMoneyWay business account.
-
MyGuava Business Account review: What you need to know
The MyGuava Business Account comes with no monthly fees and has useful features for international payments and transactions.
-
Best bank accounts for freelancers
We explore how to find the right bank account if you’re a freelancer.
-
Tide promo, referral, voucher & discount codes for October 2024
Looking for sign-up deals and bonus codes for a new Tide account? Check out your latest options.
-
Best free business bank accounts in the UK for 2024
We explore what free business bank accounts have to offer and who they suit.
-
Best business bank account switching offers in the UK
By switching your business bank account, you may be able to reduce your monthly fees or take advantage of different features like smart bookkeeping tools.
-
Best prepaid business cards in the UK for 2024
Learn more about how prepaid business cards can be used to spend money with any retailer that accepts debit or credit cards.
-
Revolut Business account review
Considering a Revolut Business account? We take a closer look at the features and price plans available with these digital-only accounts.
-
Tide business account review
Is Tide’s current account for businesses right for your company? We take a closer look at all of the fees and features of a Tide account.
-
Pleo review
Is Pleo’s app-only expenses solution right for your business? We take a closer look at all of the features of a Pleo account.