The principle, then the permission slip
The rule is “wholly and exclusively for the trade” — and the part freelancers under-use is that mixed costs can be apportioned. You don't lose the phone claim because you also call your mum; you claim the business share. Reasonable, consistent, documented splits are exactly what the system expects. The freelancers who get in trouble aren't the ones claiming a defensible 60% of their broadband — they're the ones claiming zero for years (donating money) or 100% of everything (inviting letters).
The full guide works through the home office decision (the flat rate is convenient and usually leaves money on the table), the full category sweep, a realistic worked example totting up £4,700 of claims, and the genuinely-not-claimable list.
The home office: the decision worth doing properly
Route 1 — simplified flat rate: work from home 25+ hours/month and claim £10–£26/month (£120–£312/year) with zero paperwork. Fine for occasional home working.
Route 2 — actual costs, apportioned: add up rent or mortgage interest, council tax, heating, electricity, broadband and contents insurance; apportion by rooms used and hours used. A freelancer working full-time from one room of a five-room flat costing £14,000/year in qualifying costs might defensibly claim ~£2,000+. Ten times the flat rate. Keep the workings — the workings are the claim.
(Own your home? Use “exclusively for business, all the time” carefully — a room with some personal use avoids capital gains complications when you sell. Your accountant should set this up; it's a five-minute conversation.)
The full sweep
- Equipment: computers, cameras, desks, chairs — claimable, in full in-year for most via the Annual Investment Allowance. Bought before you registered? Pre-trading costs are generally claimable too.
- Software & subscriptions: Adobe, hosting, stock libraries, FreeAgent, professional memberships on HMRC's List 3 — yes.
- Phone & broadband: business proportion, decided once, applied consistently.
- Travel: client visits, co-working days, conferences — trains, mileage (45p/mile first 10k), reasonable hotels and subsistence when working away. Not claimable: travel to a place that's effectively your regular workplace.
- Marketing: website, domains, ads, portfolio costs — yes.
- Professional fees: accountancy (this is deductible), legal fees for business matters, PI/PL insurance — yes.
- Training: maintaining or updating skills in your existing field — yes, including related new skills under the relaxed rules. Retraining into a different career — no.
Worked example: a design freelancer's year
- Home office (actual-cost method): £1,900
- New laptop + monitor: £1,600
- Software subscriptions: £560
- Phone/broadband business share: £380
- Travel to clients + one conference: £700
- Insurance + accountancy: £560 — total ≈ £5,700
At the basic rate (20% tax + 6% Class 4 NI) that's roughly £1,480 less tax than claiming nothing — and every line above is boring, defensible, standard practice.
Genuinely not claimable (the perennial hopefuls)
- Everyday clothing — even the client-meeting outfit. (Protective gear and logo'd uniform: yes.)
- Client entertaining — coffees, lunches, drinks with clients: never allowable, however commercially real.
- Your own lunch at your desk — subsistence needs a business journey.
- Gym, glasses, therapy — personal, save narrow exceptions.
- The full cost of anything with obvious heavy personal use, unapportioned.
The system beats the memory None of this works retrospectively in January. Receipts snapped at purchase into FreeAgent (included in every
package), a mileage log that fills itself, apportionments set once — capture-at-source is the entire game. Our clients' expense claims typically rise sharply in year one, legitimately, because the costs stopped evaporating.
