Tips for Sole Traders and Self Employed - Expenses you can and cannot claim: Expenses you can claim... * Salaries and benefits: Employees’ wages and redundancy payments Employers’ National Insurance Insurance and pension benefits for employees Any employee childcare provision you make The cost of training employees * Business premises Heating Lighting Cleaning Water rates Rent Business rates General maintenance * If you work from home A proportion of costs such as: Lighting Heating Cleaning Insurance Mortgage interest Council tax Water rates General maintenance * Travel and accommodation Running costs of a car or other vehicle – petrol, car tax, insurance, repairs and servicing. If you also use the car privately, you can claim only a proportion – usually the ratio of your business mileage to your total mileage (keep a log of business mileage for a representative period as well as all bills). Travel and accommodation on business trips and between different places of work can be claimed as well. ...and expenses you can’t * Salaries and benefits If you are self-employed you cannot claim your own wages, salary or other money drawn from the business Your own National Insurance contributions and income tax; your own pension costs, life insurance. * Premises You cannot claim the initial cost of buildings, alterations and improvements (such as extensions to house your business) – such work may qualify for annual investment allowance or capital allowances. A proportion of bills relating to private use of your home. * Travel and accommodation Travel between home and workplace Cost of buying a vehicle (but may qualify for capital allowances) Meals, except reasonable amount for breakfast and evening meals on overnight trips. (There is no definition of ‘reasonable’. You must keep receipts and may need to argue your case.) If you can divide an expense between business and personal cost (car running costs between business and personal travel, say), the business proportion is deductible. If the nature of the expense means it cannot be divided (such as the cost of a flight), then no deduction is allowed.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 09:57:54 +0000
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