Tax deductions for influencers
As a new profession, it’s easy to fear that there would be no tax deductions for influencers. But social media influencers are treated the same as any other self-employed worker in the eyes of HMRC.
You have to pay tax on your income (including some gifted items – see our influencer blog for how it all works) and deduct any expenses from your tax bill.
What are the tax deductions for influencers?
Here are 10 types of expenses that you can deduct from your tax bill:
- Tools (Phone, filming equipment, camera, insurance)
- Non-gifted products that you bought to review
- Online training courses
- Travel expenses (Including mileage)
- Software (Email marketing, image editing)
- Subscriptions (Stock photographs, premium apps etc.)
- Marketing (Paid advertising, website, giveaways)
- Bills (Utility bills, broadband – that accounts for your work from home costs)
- Office costs (Office chair, desk, rent etc.)
- Accounting costs
Don’t forget that you can actually expense anything that legitimately accounts for your business costs. For more details on what HMRC will accept, take a look at their guidelines.
How do tax deductions work?
All you have to do is keep a record of everything you spend on your business. HMRC will need to see all of this when it comes to doing your tax return. You will pay tax on your yearly earnings but you can deduct your business expense from the total. This means that the portion of your income that you pay tax on (your taxable income) is less.
To calculate how much you should pay for the 2020/21 tax year, take a look at the current tax rates here.
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