What expenses can I claim when self-employed?

You can claim costs that are incurred wholly and exclusively for your business. The main categories are office and premises costs, travel and motoring, stock and equipment, staff and subcontractor costs, professional and finance costs such as accountancy fees and insurance, and marketing and software. If a cost is part business and part personal, you claim only the business proportion. Keeping these records properly is what lets you claim everything you are entitled to without overstepping.

Usually not. HMRC treats everyday food and drink as a personal cost, even when you are working, because you would have to eat anyway. The main exception is reasonable subsistence on a genuine business trip away from your normal base, for example an overnight stay or travel to a one-off location. Day-to-day lunches while working locally are not allowable.

You have two options. You can use HMRC simplified flat rates based on the hours you work from home each month, which is simple and needs no calculation of bills. Or you can claim a fair proportion of your actual household costs (heating, electricity, council tax, rent or mortgage interest, broadband), usually worked out by the number of rooms used for business and the time they are used. We work out which method gives you the larger, defensible claim.

Yes, in one of two ways. The simplest is the mileage method: 45p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles in a tax year, then 25p after that, which covers running costs and wear. Alternatively you can claim the actual business proportion of all your motoring costs plus capital allowances on the vehicle. You cannot mix the two for the same vehicle, so it is worth choosing the right method from the start.

Common costs you cannot claim include everyday clothing, your ordinary commute, client entertaining and most business meals, fines such as parking tickets, and the personal share of any cost that is part business and part private. The test is always whether the cost was incurred wholly and exclusively for the business. When something is borderline, it is better to check than to guess and risk it being disallowed later.

Yes. You should keep records and evidence of your business expenses, receipts, invoices and bank statements, normally for at least five years after the Self Assessment deadline for that year. HMRC can ask to see them, and without evidence a claim can be disallowed. Keeping digital copies as you go, rather than a shoebox at year-end, makes this painless and is the approach we set our clients up with.