What can tradespeople claim as expenses?
Updated 7 October 2026 · 2026/27 tax year
Every cost you can claim lowers your profit, and so your tax. Here are the allowable expenses most tradespeople have, and the ones that catch people out.
Costs you can claim
- Materials and parts used on jobs
- Tools and equipment, including ones you buy to keep
- Your van: 45p and 25p a mile, or the actual costs
- Workwear with your logo, uniforms and protective gear (PPE)
- Trade insurance, public liability, and van insurance (on actual costs)
- Phone and broadband: the business share
- Software and apps, including your bookkeeping app
- Advertising: flyers, van signs, your website, Checkatrade and similar
- Trade body and registration fees, such as Gas Safe, NICEIC or NAPIT
- Accountant fees and bank charges
- Subcontractors you pay to help on a job
- Working from home: HMRC's flat rate of £10, £18 or £26 a month
Costs you can't claim
- Everyday clothes, even if you only wear them for work
- Fines, including parking tickets
- Entertaining customers
- Travel between home and a permanent workplace
- The personal share of anything you also use yourself
Keeping records
Keep a record of every cost, with the receipt, for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year. A photo is fine; you don't need the paper.
Things used partly for yourself
If you use your phone 60% for work, claim 60% of the bill. The same goes for broadband and, on actual costs, your van.
Let VanBooks do it for you. With VanBooks you snap a receipt or forward the email, it reads the details and picks HMRC's category, and you can set the business share on anything you use partly yourself. Try it free for a month
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Check HMRC's guidance or ask an accountant about your own situation.