The simple answer is business expenses that are wholly and necessarily for the purpose of the business. However it is generally helpful to go into a bit more detail.
Costs you can claim as allowable expenses.
These include:
- office costs, eg stationery or phone bills
- travel costs, eg fuel, parking, train or bus fares
- clothing expenses, eg uniforms
- staff costs, eg salaries or subcontractor costs
- things you buy to sell on, eg stock or raw materials
- financial costs, eg insurance or bank charges
- costs of your business premises, eg heating, lighting, business rates
- advertising or marketing, eg website costs.
If something is used for both business and private purposes, then only part of the cost equivalent to the business use can be claimed.
If you work from home you have a choice. You can claim a tax deduction using the specified allowance for use of home or you can use a reasonable estimate, based on a reasonable proportion of the actual costs.
You may be able to claim a proportion of your costs for things like:
- heating
- electricity
- Council Tax
- mortgage interest or rent
- internet and telephone use
The cost of buying assets, such as equipment, for the business does not get deducted like expenses but instead there are tax adjustments called capital allowances. Usually these allowances spread the cost over more than one year.
These are the principal categories,
- equipment
- machinery
- business vehicles, eg cars, vans, lorries.
Any specific questions, let me know.
