What expenses can self-employed tradespeople claim?

As a self-employed tradesperson you can claim the costs of running your business, and that lowers the profit you pay tax on. Think tools, materials, workwear and PPE, van running costs, business mileage, your work phone, insurance, subcontractors and accountant fees. The rule is simple. If it's spent wholly and exclusively for the job, it usually counts.

The common ones

These are the expenses most tradespeople claim. Keep it to what you actually spent on the business.

• Tools and equipment you buy for work, from a new drill to consumables

• Materials you buy for jobs, like timber, pipe, cable, fixings

• Workwear and PPE such as boots, hi-vis, hard hats, gloves. Everyday clothes don't count, even if you only wear them for work

• Van running costs including fuel, insurance, road tax, servicing, MOT and repairs

• Phone and internet for the business portion

• Business insurance like public liability and tools cover

• Subcontractors you pay to help on jobs

• Training that updates skills you already use in the business

• Accountant or bookkeeping fees

• Stationery, software and bank charges on a business account

Mileage or actual van costs, not both

You've got two ways to claim for your vehicle. Pick one and stick with it for that vehicle.

The simple way is mileage. You claim 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the year, then 25p a mile after that. You don't claim fuel or repairs separately. The rate covers everything.

The other way is actual costs. You add up all your fuel, insurance, tax, servicing and repairs, then claim the business-use share. You can also claim capital allowances on the vehicle itself.

Mileage is easier and needs less paperwork, just a log of your business trips. Actual costs can work out better for a thirsty van that racks up big repair bills. Once you've claimed one way for a vehicle, you can't switch to the other for it later.

Use of home

If you do your quotes, invoicing and admin from home, you can claim a bit for that. The easy route is HMRC's flat rate based on hours worked from home each month. Or you can work out the actual share of your bills, which is more faff but sometimes more.

Training: the catch

You can claim training that keeps your existing skills up to date, like a gas safety refresher or a ticket renewal. What you generally can't claim is training for a brand new trade or skill you didn't have before, because HMRC treats that as building the business rather than running it.

What you can't claim

A few things people try to claim that don't fly:

• Everyday clothes, even if you only wear them on site

• Your own wages or drawings

• Fines and parking tickets

• The private-use share of anything, like personal miles or personal phone use

• Client entertaining

Keep your receipts

You need proof for what you claim. HMRC can ask you to back up any figure, and generally you should keep records for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline. A photo of the receipt on your phone is fine. The problem is never the receipt you took. It's the fifty you didn't.

The £1,000 trading allowance

If you earn very little from self-employment, there's a £1,000 trading allowance. Earn under £1,000 in a tax year and you may not need to report it at all. Earn more, and you can either claim the £1,000 as a flat deduction instead of your actual expenses, or claim your real costs, whichever leaves you better off. For most working tradespeople the real expenses come to far more than £1,000, so you'd claim those.

You can read the detail on gov.uk.

FAQ

Can I claim my boots and hi-vis? Yes. Protective clothing and safety gear for the job are allowable. Ordinary clothes are not.

Can I claim a tool I bought before I went self-employed? Often yes, at its value when you started using it in the business. Keep a note of what you had.

Do I need receipts for everything? You need to be able to prove your expenses. Keep receipts or photos of them. Bank statements alone can be thin evidence.

Is it better to claim mileage or actual costs? It depends on the vehicle. High-mileage, cheap-to-run favours mileage. Expensive van with big bills can favour actual costs.

The reason people miss expenses is that they don't log them at the time. TradePilot lets you snap a receipt, log a job and track your mileage from your phone the moment it happens, so nothing slips through by January. One app for the lot. We're not live yet, but you can join the waiting list for early access.

This is general information, not tax advice. Check your own situation with HMRC or an accountant.