Claiming Self-Employed Tax Relief and Allowances

Nobody wants to pay more tax than they need to, and there is no reason why you should pay more than your fair share. So, in this post, we’re going to look at the different allowances and tax reliefs that a self-employed person can claim.

This isn’t tax avoidance, or any kind of shady practice. This is simply using the allowances that are genuinely available for you to use in the course of your self-employment.

Tax relief and tax allowances are a massive subject, so we can’t possibly hope to cover every single aspect but we’ll do our best to give you an idea of the rules.

Different types of tax allowances

There are several options available, so we’ll go over some of the most common ones. You might even be entitled to use more than one type of allowance at once!

The trading allowance

The trading allowance (or hobby allowance as it’s sometimes called) means you’re allowed to earn up to £1,000 through self-employment – tax free, and without reporting it to HMRC. You can use it even if you get income from another source, such as from an employer. so it’s particularly useful for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the water of self-employment without the burden of completing a Self Assessment tax return.

Plenty of people start working as a self-employed individual whilst they are still employed, selling or doing odd jobs on the side, so the allowance can give you a bit of space to try things out.

If your self-employment earnings go above the threshold then you’ll need to start submitting tax returns though, so keep track of what you’re getting in a tax year.

The personal tax allowance

UK taxpayers get a personal tax allowance (£12,570 for the 2025/26 tax year). This means you can earn up to this value, and you’ll only start paying tax on the income you make over this amount. You might still need to submit a tax return though, even if you don’t think you actually need to pay any tax, so don’t get mixed up between this and the trading allowance!

If your partner isn’t working or earns less than this amount, they can opt to transfer part of their personal allowance to you.

Dividend allowance

You can also use the dividend allowance of £500 if you’re a shareholder who receives dividend payments, which is particularly good news if you are the owner of your own limited company! You can use the dividend allowance as well as the personal tax free allowance at the same time.

Understanding the meaning of business use

There’s an important rule that you need to be aware of before we start talking about what expenses you can claim against your tax.

This means that if you want to claim something as a business expense, then you must show the cost was wholly incurred as a result of your business. For instance:

What about split usage expenses?

If you can show how the usage is split between business and personal, then you can claim the business part.

Claiming business expenses against tax

As a self-employed person you are allowed to claim for expenses incurred in the course of your work. Remember though, if you claimed the trading allowance then you cannot do this.

Business expenses can be things like:

You do need to make sure you are recording expenses properly so you can prove how much you have spent and when you spent it.

If you make any splits for mixed business/personal use, then you need to keep accurate notes to show your thinking. If you do get a visit from HMRC and they disagree with you, it’s useful to be able to show them your thought process, and that you were acting carefully – even if you were wrong. You’ll be less likely to incur a penalty.

Using simplified expenses

HMRC has a handy scheme that allows self-employed people and some partnerships to use a simplified method of calculating expenses, and apply a flat rate to things like vehicles and working from home, so you don’t have to go through the process of working out what belongs where.

This is really useful if you have a small business which doesn’t have a huge amount of activity because, as the name implies, it does make things simpler. That said, simplified expenses aren’t always a good idea if you have a more active business because your actual costs might be higher than the flat rate, in which case you’ll be out of pocket! As long as you’re eligible, you can choose which method you use so again, go for the one which gets you the best deduction on your tax bill.

Tax relief and allowances for paying staff

If you employ someone then you can offset some of the costs against your tax bill, such as:

Buying assets for your business

Expenses are for things that tend to get used up quickly (normally in less than one year) in your business, but what happens if you buy something that lasts longer, like a van? Well…

The simplified way

In the simplified method, you keep a record of the business mileage you do in your vehicle, and then multiply that by the appropriate rate to find out how much is allowable against tax.

You can’t claim the initial purchase price, but you can claim a percentage of the cost of owning and running the vehicle with every mile that you do.

For cars and vans, you can claim 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles per year, and 25p per mile thereafter. For unicyclists… well.

Actual costs

Using the traditional accounting method, you can claim the actual cost of things like insurance, fuel, servicing, and so on, and then a further amount to compensate for depreciation called a ‘Capital Allowance’.

Capital Allowances let you charge a percentage of the car cost against your tax bill dependent upon the value and CO2 emissions of the vehicle. You can also use capital allowances for other assets which aren’t eligible for the simplified method.

Other useful allowances

There are a few other costs that are allowable against tax for self-employed people.

Professional development

A good example of this is if you’re the member of a professional body. You can claim the cost of your membership subscription, and any associated Continuing Professional Development (CPD) required as a result. Many professions are required to hold specific insurance, such as professional indemnity, and this is also an allowable expense.

Pensions

If you aren’t contributing to a pension, then you should be. Even if you can only afford a few pounds a month it’s better than nothing, and the good news is that your pension contributions are very tax efficient.

Research and development

If you are carrying out research and development, there is a further tax allowance that you need to be aware of, but it’s not available to self-employed individuals. Research and Development tax credit is only allowable for limited companies that pay Corporation Tax.

Why are we telling you this? Well it’s another way to reduce your tax bill if your company is spending money being innovative. Many people start developing or researching when they are self-employed and, in this case, it may be worth speaking with an advisor and forming a limited company with the express purpose of developing your idea, rather than staying self-employed. You can even claim the associated costs of any advice from solicitors and accountants when you set the new company up too.

Charitable donations

If you are a kind individual and make donations to a registered charity, then these are also something that you can offset against your tax bill.

Keeping records so you can claim tax relief and allowances

One of the first pieces of advice any accountant or bookkeeper gives a client tends to be about record keeping, and with good reason. It makes it much easier to make sure that you claim for everything you’re entitled to (which is good for your tax bill), and it’s also crucial for staying out of trouble with HMRC (which is good for your stress levels).

From 6th April 2026, Making Tax Digital (MTD) is compulsory for anyone who earns more than £50,000 from property and/or sole trader activities during the 2024/25 tax year. You’ll need to keep records digitally if you qualify, and make quarterly submissions to tell HMRC about your activities. So it’s well worth keeping them ship shape.

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