Can I claim driving lessons on tax?

First of all, what does the question, ‘Can I claim driving lessons on tax?’ actually mean?

It basically asks whether driving lessons are a deductible expense when it comes to paying your tax bill.

When you’re self-employed, you pay tax on your overall earnings. But you’re allowed to deduct the expenses that you incur for your business during each tax year.

How do expenses work?

The self-employed workforce have to declare their income to HMRC. To do this, they complete a Self Assessment and then file a tax return by 31st January. 

As part of the tax return, you deduct the expenses you’ve incurred, so it’s really important that you keep a record of everything spent to show HMRC.

They will accept any reasonable business expense as a deduction, so the more evidence you can give, the more that you can reduce your bill.

So, can I claim driving lessons on tax?

Driving lessons would be a difficult expense to justify. 

They are generally a personal expense so you will need a lot of evidence to demonstrate that they are both a necessity and for the sole purpose of your business. 

Here are some professions where you may be able to claim driving lessons back:

• Film/TV industry locations team
• Courier
• Taxi driver  

In any case, you should speak to your accountant or HMRC here. Expenses like this are judged on a case-by-case basis so you would be wise to get a second opinion based on the context of your business.

To read about more non-standard expenses, click here, or look out for our blog on the strangest things that HMRC has recorded people trying to deduct from their tax bill.