A clarity tool

What can I actually claim?

Tell us a bit about how you work, and see the categories of allowable expense that are actually relevant to you — explained in plain English, not just listed. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent anywhere.

How do you run the business?

Which of these apply to you? Tick as many as you like.

What you can claim

Not sure where something fits?Most real questions sit in a grey area between categories, and that's exactly what a short conversation is for. Bring your list and I'll give you a straight answer.

Book a free 30-minute call

How this is worked out

This tool covers the expense categories that come up most often for the kind of businesses DF Accounting works with — mainly limited companies and sole traders in professional and other services, including property management. It's a starting map, not a full HMRC manual: real situations often have a genuine grey area, and that's exactly what a five-minute conversation is for.

What's included

  • The core allowable-expense categories for running costs, staff, travel, equipment, training and marketing.
  • Current simplified-expenses flat rates for mileage and working from home, and the current Annual Investment Allowance, trivial benefits, and staff entertaining limits.
  • The April 2026 change to homeworking tax relief for employees and directors — a genuinely recent rule change, not old guidance recycled.

What's not included

  • Anything specific to a particular industry beyond the categories shown, VAT scheme selection, capital gains treatment, or R&D tax relief.
  • A running total or numeric estimate of what you'd save — this tool tells you what's allowable, not how much it's worth. The salary vs dividends calculator is the numbers tool.
  • Anything that depends on your specific accounts, structure, or history — that's a conversation, not a checklist.
This is a general guide, not tax advice. It's built to explain the categories correctly, not to give you a ruling on your specific situation. Content on this website is general information and does not constitute financial or tax advice. Talk it through with Daneon before you rely on it.

Figures shown are current for the 2026/27 tax year and are reviewed each quarter. Last checked: August 2026.

Common questions

It's HMRC's core test: a cost is only allowable if it was incurred purely for the business. Where something has a mixed purpose, like a phone you also use personally, you can usually still claim the business share, as long as you can work it out sensibly and keep a record of how you did it.

The main categories are the same, but some of the detail isn't. Sole traders can use simplified flat rates for things like mileage and working from home, while a limited company has extra rules for costs that count as benefits for directors and staff. That's why the checker asks which you are first.

If you're a sole trader, keep your records for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year they relate to. A limited company needs to keep its records for six years from the end of the accounting period. Digital copies are fine, as long as they're clear and complete.

It can often be put right. A sole trader can usually amend a Self Assessment return within 12 months of the 31 January filing deadline, and a company can amend its Company Tax Return within 12 months of its filing deadline. After that the routes back are more limited, so it's worth raising sooner rather than later.