What Expenses Can You Claim as a Freelancer?

Rates, thresholds, and deadlines mentioned below are correct as of the 2025/26 UK tax year. Tax rules change — always confirm current figures with HMRC or speak to us before acting.

Every freelancer eventually asks the same question: what can I actually claim? HMRC's test is that an expense must be wholly and exclusively for business purposes — here's what that looks like in practice.

Clearly allowable

Office supplies, software subscriptions, and equipment used for work
Professional fees — accountancy, legal, industry memberships
Business insurance
Marketing and advertising costs
Travel directly related to client work (not your regular commute)
A proportion of phone and internet bills used for business

Home office costs

If you work from home, you can claim a proportion of household costs — heating, electricity, internet — based on the space and time used for work. HMRC also allows a simplified flat rate if you'd rather not calculate proportions: currently a fixed monthly amount based on hours worked from home per month, which is far less admin though sometimes less generous than a proper calculation.

Mileage

Rather than tracking actual vehicle costs, most sole traders use HMRC's simplified mileage rates — a set rate per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, and a lower rate after that. Keep a log: date, purpose, and mileage for each trip.

What usually gets queried

Clothing — everyday clothes aren't claimable even if you only wear them for work, unless it's genuine protective wear or a uniform with a logo
Client entertaining — generally not deductible for tax purposes, even though it's a legitimate business cost
Mixed-use purchases — a laptop used 50% for personal use should only have 50% claimed
Training — courses that build genuinely new skills (versus maintaining existing ones) can sometimes be treated differently

The expenses that get flagged aren't usually fraud — they're just poorly documented. A £40 taxi receipt with no note of who you met is a much harder claim to defend than one with a line of context.

The habit that actually matters

None of this works without records kept as you go. Photograph receipts the day you get them, note the business purpose while you remember it, and reconcile monthly rather than reconstructing a year from memory in January. It's the single biggest lever for both a lower tax bill and a stress-free filing season.

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