Complete list of self-employed allowances
If you’re a sole trader, there are a ton of self-employed allowances that you can use to pay less tax.
1. The Trading Allowance
You can claim the first £1,000 of income from self-employment as a flat tax-free allowance.
You won’t be eligible to claim other expenses, though (including the allowances listed below).
Still, for most self-employed people this is more than their expenses.
Plus, no more receipts.
2. The Home Office Allowance
If you work from home, you have two options:
- you can claim the proportion of your home costs (rent, bills) that’s used for business, or
- you can use the flat Home Office Allowance instead:
| Hours of business use per month | Flat rate that you can claim |
|---|---|
| 25 – 50 hours | £10 per month |
| 51 – 100 hours | £18 per month |
| More than 101 hours | £26 per month |
3. The Mileage Allowance
If you don’t want to keep track of every receipt related to your car (insurance, repairs, fuel, etc.), you can just opt for “simplified expenses” and use this flat rate called the Mileage Allowance instead:
| Vehicle | Flat rate per mile |
|---|---|
| Cars and goods vehicles first 10,000 miles | 45p per mile |
| Cars and goods vehicles after 10,000 miles | 25p per mile |
| Motorcycles | 24p per mile |
If I claim these self-employed allowances, do I still get the general ones?
Yes.
All of these self-employed allowances are on top of the general allowances:
- the Personal Allowance that all taxpayers have in the UK
- the Marriage Allowance, if you’re married or in a civil partnership
- or all other tax-free allowances if have multiple income sources (maybe you rent out a room or sold a house)
How do I claim them?
You can just claim them through your Self Assessment tax return.
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