Which Expenses a Self-Employed Individual Can Claim

Expenses a Self-Employed Individual Can Claim!

This year’s Self-Assessment tax return may allow you to claim costs and other tax relief. This blog discusses tax relief, including permissible expenses, and how to claim it.

Please feel free to contact us, if you have any questions on the topic”Which Expenses a Self-Employed Individual Can Claim?”. You can call us at 02071559545 or email us at info@taxsteins.co.uk.

Trade Allowance

Sole traders can claim one relief called trading allowance if their expenses are less than £1k e.g if your expenses are just £750 in total, you can opt-in for this allowance, but it will not convert your profit into a loss. It means if your income is less than £1k you can claim this relief up to the amount of your income e.g if your income is £800, you can claim this allowance up to £800 because if you claim £1k you’ll be in a loss which is not permissible as per the rules of HMRC.

When calculating your tax year taxable profit, you can subtract the trading allowance if you’re eligible. If you claim the trade allowance, you cannot claim permissible costs.

Claiming trade income allowance

1. For a short Self-Employment tax return, please enter this allowance in box 10.1.
2. In box 16.1, enter the amount you want to claim if you must complete the full Self-Employment documents.

You can’t claim the trading allowance in conjunction with other expenses.

Expenses you can Claim:

• office or homework costs
• travel and lodging
• staff costs, including salary (excluding self-employed drawings)
• Uniforms (with logo on the clothing and it shouldn’t be normal clothing)
• purchases related to business (e.g. any item bought for resale purposes)
• Mileage allowance if you travel in your personal car for business purposes (you can make one excel sheet or buy any mileage book from a bookshop)

These expenses must be business-related to be deductible from your taxable earnings.

Keep note of your spending throughout the year and add them together when filing your tax return to compute your overall expenses. Some costs can be computed using a flat rate.

Disallowable expenses are HMRC-unallowable costs. These expenses aren’t deductible.

How to Claim Self-Assessment Expenses

Please fill up the following pages while filling out the tax return:

1. Sum up your allowable expenses in box 20 to complete the short Self-Employment forms. Boxes 11-19 provide expenditure totals.
2. Enter your total expenses (allowable and disallowable) in boxes 17-30 if you have to file the full Self-Employment pages. Total your expenses in box 31. If any expenses in boxes 17–30 are not tax deductible, boxes 32–45 should equal box 46.

Further relief for self-employed individuals

Pensions

Some pension payments may qualify for tax reduction, depending on your situation.

This applies to private pension contributions, not employer-deducted pension contributions. Higher-rate taxpayers may be eligible for a tax deduction on pension contributions if their employers make those contributions out of pre-tax earnings.

Making a Pension Claim

To receive a tax refund from the government, you must fill out the “Tax Reliefs” section of the Main Return pages (SA100) of your Self-Assessment tax return by stating your pension contribution in boxes 1 to 4.

Providing more information on the Additional information (SA101) pages may be necessary if your pension contributions during the tax year were more than the annual allowed. If you are unsure, it is best to speak with us at 02071559545 or email at info@taxsteins.co.uk.

Charities

When filing your Self Assessment tax return, you can deduct any money you gave to a charity that is registered and eligible charity in the UK..

Where to mention on the tax return

Complete boxes 5-12 on the “Tax Reliefs” section of the Self Assessment tax return’s Main Return pages (SA100) to receive a deduction for charitable contributions.