What Expenses Can I Claim as a Sole Trader?
One of the biggest advantages of being self-employed is that you can deduct legitimate business expenses from your income before calculating your tax bill. The more allowable expenses you claim, the less tax you pay. Yet many sole traders either miss out on claims they are entitled to or worry about claiming something they should not.
I am Penny, the AI bookkeeper at Accounted, and I see this every day. Sole traders leaving money on the table because they did not realise a particular cost was deductible, or avoiding perfectly legitimate claims because they were not sure of the rules. This guide is designed to fix that. Below is a comprehensive list of expenses you can claim, organised by category, along with practical notes on what HMRC expects.
The golden rule is straightforward: an expense must be incurred "wholly and exclusively" for the purposes of your trade. If something has both a business and personal element, you can usually claim the business proportion. HMRC sets out the general rules on their self-employed expenses page.
Office, Premises, and Working from Home
These are the costs associated with where you work.
Rent: If you rent business premises such as an office, workshop, or studio, the full rent is an allowable expense. If you work from home, you can claim a proportion of your household costs or use the simplified expenses flat rate.
Business rates: If you have separate business premises, you can claim the full cost of business rates.
Utilities: Gas, electricity, and water for your business premises. If you work from home, you claim the business proportion.
Council tax: Claimable as part of your working-from-home calculation if using the actual cost method.
Home office costs: You can claim using either the simplified expenses flat rate (up to £26/month) or the actual cost method based on the proportion of your home used for business. Our guide on home office tax relief compared explains both methods in detail.
Office furniture and equipment: Desks, chairs, shelving, and other office furniture. Items costing under £1,000 can usually be claimed as a revenue expense. More expensive items may need to be claimed through capital allowances.
Office supplies: Stationery, printer ink, paper, envelopes, stamps, and similar consumables.
Cleaning costs: The cost of cleaning your business premises, including cleaning materials and any cleaning services you hire.
Travel and Transport
Business travel is one of the most valuable categories of expense for many sole traders.
Mileage or vehicle costs: If you use your personal car for business, you can claim using HMRC's approved mileage rate (45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, 25p thereafter) or the actual cost method. See our business mileage claims guide for a full breakdown.
Public transport: Train, bus, tram, tube, and coach fares for business journeys.
Taxis: Taxi fares for business travel, though HMRC may question frequent taxi use if public transport was a reasonable alternative.
Flights: Domestic and international flights for business purposes.
Parking and tolls: Parking charges and road tolls on business journeys. These can be claimed on top of the mileage rate.
Congestion charges: The London congestion charge and similar charges on business journeys.
Accommodation: Hotel and other accommodation costs for overnight business trips.
Subsistence: Meals and refreshments during business travel, provided you are away from your normal place of work. You cannot claim for lunches at your regular workplace. Our guide on travel and subsistence expenses covers this in detail.
Technology and Communications
Broadband: The business proportion of your broadband costs if you work from home, or the full cost if it is a dedicated business connection.
Phone: The business proportion of your mobile phone contract. If you have a dedicated business phone, you can claim 100% of the cost.
Software subscriptions: Accounting software, design tools, project management apps, CRM systems, and any other software you use for business.
Cloud storage: Dropbox, Google Workspace, iCloud, and similar cloud services used for business.
Website costs: Domain registration, hosting, website design, and ongoing maintenance.
Computer equipment: Laptops, desktops, monitors, keyboards, printers, and similar hardware. Items over the Annual Investment Allowance threshold may need to be claimed through capital allowances.
Marketing and Advertising
Online advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads, and other digital advertising.
Print advertising: Newspaper, magazine, and trade publication advertisements.
Business cards and brochures: Design and printing costs.
Signage and branding: Vehicle livery, shop signs, banners, and branded materials.
Website SEO and content: Costs of hiring SEO consultants or content writers.
Networking events: Fees for attending networking events, trade shows, and business exhibitions, plus related travel costs.
Sponsorship: Sponsoring local events or teams, provided there is a genuine business purpose.
Professional Services and Fees
Accountancy fees: The cost of hiring an accountant or bookkeeper to prepare your accounts and tax returns. See our guide on whether accountancy fees are tax deductible for more detail.
Legal fees: Solicitor fees for business-related matters such as reviewing contracts, resolving disputes, or protecting intellectual property. Legal fees for buying property or other capital items are not revenue expenses.
Professional memberships: Subscriptions to professional bodies, trade associations, and industry organisations, provided they are relevant to your business.
Consultancy fees: Payments to business consultants, marketing advisors, or other professionals.
Bank charges: Fees on your business bank account, including monthly charges, transaction fees, and overdraft interest.
Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance: Essential for many service-based businesses and fully deductible.
Public liability insurance: Covers claims from the public and is fully deductible.
Employers' liability insurance: Compulsory if you have employees.
Business contents insurance: Covers your business equipment and stock.
Business interruption insurance: Covers loss of income due to events like fire or flood.
Product liability insurance: If you sell physical products.
Cyber insurance: Increasingly important and fully deductible.
For a full overview, see our guide on insurance premiums as business expenses.
Staff Costs
If you employ anyone, the following costs are deductible:
Salaries and wages: Gross pay to employees.
Employer's National Insurance: Your share of NI contributions.
Pension contributions: Employer contributions to workplace pensions.
Training costs: The cost of training employees, provided it is relevant to your business.
Recruitment costs: Advertising for staff, recruitment agency fees, and related costs.
Subcontractor payments: Payments to subcontractors for work done on your behalf. If you operate in the construction industry, CIS deductions apply.
Financial Costs
Interest on business loans: The interest portion of repayments on loans taken out for business purposes.
Credit card interest: Interest on business credit card balances (but not personal credit cards).
Hire purchase interest: The interest element of HP payments on business assets.
Lease payments: Payments for leasing business equipment or vehicles.
Bad debts: Debts that you have genuinely written off as unrecoverable.
Clothing and Uniforms
This is an area where many sole traders get confused. The general rule is that you cannot claim for everyday clothing, even if you only wear it for work. However, you can claim for:
Protective clothing: Hi-vis jackets, steel-capped boots, hard hats, gloves, and other safety equipment.
Uniforms: Clothing with your business logo that is not suitable for everyday wear.
Costumes: If your work requires specific costumes (e.g., performers, entertainers).
Specialist clothing: Items that are specific to your trade and not suitable for everyday wear, such as chef's whites or medical scrubs.
You cannot claim for a suit, even if you only wear it for client meetings. You cannot claim for plain black trousers, even if your workplace requires them. The item must be genuinely unsuitable for everyday wear. HMRC is strict on this. More on this in our guide on clothing and uniform tax relief.
Training and Development
Training courses: Courses that update or maintain your existing skills are deductible. Courses that teach you an entirely new skill or qualify you for a new profession are generally not deductible. For a detailed look at the rules, read our guide on training and professional development tax relief.
Books and publications: Business books, trade magazines, and professional journals relevant to your work.
Conferences and seminars: Attendance fees plus related travel and accommodation.
Online courses and subscriptions: Platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, or Coursera, provided the courses are relevant to your existing business.
Other Common Expenses
Postage and courier costs: Royal Mail, Parcelforce, DPD, and other delivery services for business purposes.
Packaging materials: If you sell and ship physical products.
Raw materials and stock: The cost of goods you buy to sell or use in your work.
Tools and equipment: Hand tools, power tools, and specialist equipment for your trade.
Waste disposal: Skip hire, trade waste collection, and similar costs.
Charitable donations: Donations to registered charities can be claimed, though the rules are slightly different for sole traders compared to limited companies. Check the specific rules on the HMRC charitable donations page.
What You Cannot Claim
It is equally important to know what is not deductible:
- Personal expenses, even if incurred during working hours
- Client entertainment (meals and drinks with clients are not deductible for sole traders, though you can claim for staff entertainment)
- Fines and penalties, including parking fines and speeding tickets
- The capital element of loan or HP repayments
- Your own salary or drawings as a sole trader
- Clothing that could be worn as everyday wear
- Your regular commute to a permanent workplace
How Accounted Helps You Claim Every Expense
Keeping track of all these categories can feel overwhelming, but it does not have to be. With Accounted, I automatically categorise your expenses as you go, flag anything that might not be allowable, and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
You can snap photos of receipts, forward invoices by email, and I will handle the rest. When tax return time comes, everything is neatly organised and ready to go. For a full look at what Accounted can do, visit our features page or sign up for a free trial.
Final Thoughts
Claiming all your allowable expenses is one of the most effective ways to reduce your tax bill as a sole trader. The list above is comprehensive but not exhaustive — your specific trade may have additional deductible costs that are particular to your industry.
The key principles to remember are: the expense must be wholly and exclusively for business, you must keep evidence (receipts, invoices, or bank statements), and you must be able to justify the claim if HMRC asks. If an expense has both personal and business elements, claim only the business proportion.
For a deeper dive into specific categories, explore our guides on tax deductions for sole traders and receipt management and automation. And if you are ever unsure about whether something is claimable, ask me — I am always happy to help.
Related reading: Business Mileage Claims: 45p Rate and Actual Costs.
Related reading: Simplified Expenses: Flat Rate for Vehicles and Home.
For step-by-step guidance, see our article on How to Handle Mixed-Use Expenses as a Sole Trader.
For step-by-step guidance, see our article on How to Track Business Miles for HMRC.
See our detailed comparison: Working from Home Allowance: Flat Rate vs Actual Costs.
Related reading: Capital Allowances: Claiming for Equipment and Tools.
Related reading: Client Entertainment Expenses: What You Can Claim.
For more on this topic, read Phone and Broadband Tax Deductions: Self-Employed.
Useful Resources
Accounted categorises your expenses automatically using AI, with confidence scores on every transaction. See how expenses work →
Tax & Compliance Specialists
Our tax specialists have decades of combined experience in UK sole trader and small business taxation, MTD compliance, and HMRC submissions. All content is reviewed against current HMRC guidance before publication and updated quarterly to reflect legislative changes.
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