Complete list of self-employed allowances

Being your own boss comes with perks, like the mileage allowance for self-employed workers, which helps you claim back business travel costs, plus the freedom to choose your own hours and work in your PJs.

But the real win? Plenty of tax-free allowances to help you keep more of what you earn.

Here’s a breakdown of the key ones:

1. The Trading Allowance 💰

You can claim the first £1,000 of income from self-employment as a flat tax-free allowance.

The catch? If you claim this, you can’t deduct any other expenses. But for many, it’s still a win.

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:

3. The Mileage Allowance for self employed individuals 🚗

If you’re racking up business miles, you don’t need to keep every receipt for fuel, repairs, or insurance. Instead, use the mileage allowance for self-employed workers:

• 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles driven in a tax year.
• 25p per mile for any miles beyond this.

This method simplifies record-keeping while still allowing you to claim tax relief on business travel costs.

If I claim these self-employed allowances, do I still get the general ones?

Yep!

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 these allowances?

Easy! Just add them to your Self Assessment tax return. No hoops to jump through, just make sure you keep good records of your expenses, especially for those like the mileage allowance for self-employed workers.

Claim what you’re entitled to, keep more of your money. Simple.