Guide

Allowable expenses for tradespeople in the UK

16 October 2026Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction

What HMRC allows a self-employed trade to deduct: vans, tools, PPE, materials and phone, the 55p mileage rate from 6 April 2026, and CIS deductions.

HMRC allows a self-employed person to deduct allowable expenses when they work out taxable profit. The profit is what Income Tax is charged on, not the money that landed in the bank. A chat tool can sort notes you already wrote into a list. It cannot decide that a cost is allowable because it sounds like a tool, and it must not invent a mileage figure you did not count.

The rules below were read from GOV.UK on 16 October 2026. None of the links are affiliate links.

Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction, still matches a receipt to the job before it goes anywhere near a draft. We search the AI world every week so you don't have to. The list of what HMRC allows is on GOV.UK. The receipts are yours.

What HMRC allows you to deduct

HMRC's expenses overview (opens in a new tab) says you are self-employed if you are a sole trader or an individual in a partnership. You deduct allowable running costs to work out taxable profit before Income Tax. HMRC's example: turnover of £40,000 and allowable expenses of £10,000 means Income Tax on the remaining £30,000. Money taken out of the business for personal use is not an allowable expense. If you run a limited company you are not self-employed for this guide, even if you are the only person in it. The company deducts its costs before Corporation Tax. This page is about the self-employed rules.

HMRC says you can only claim costs related to business purchases. The overview names office costs, for example stationery or phone bills, travel such as fuel, parking, train or bus fares, clothing such as uniforms, staff costs such as salaries or subcontractors, and things you buy to sell on, such as stock or raw materials. It also names insurance, bank charges, premises costs, advertising, and training related to the business.

You cannot claim those expenses if you use the £1,000 tax-free trading allowance. It is one route or the other. If you are not sure a cost is allowable, the overview says contact HMRC. A chat tool is not that contact.

Where something is used for business and for personal reasons, HMRC allows only the business part. The phone example on that page: a £200 mobile bill for the year, of which £130 is personal calls and £70 is business calls. HMRC allows the £70. The same split applies to a phone you use for quotes in the day and family calls at night. Do not put the whole bill in because the handset lives in the van.

Materials sit under "things you buy to sell on", which HMRC illustrates with stock or raw materials. Plaster, cable, pipe, and fixings you pay for and use on the work are that kind of cost. A figure you cannot evidence is not a materials line. A contractor who asks for receipts before taking materials off a Construction Industry Scheme payment is doing the check in the CIS guide.

Protective clothing, and ordinary clothes

HMRC's clothing page (opens in a new tab) says you can claim allowable expenses for buying, cleaning, or repairing protective clothing needed for the work, such as safety boots or hard hats. The same page allows clothing that protects your everyday clothes while you work, such as aprons or overalls, if you only use them for work. Specialist clothing or uniforms that are not everyday clothing are allowed. Costumes for acting or advertising are allowed unless they are everyday clothing.

HMRC does not allow everyday clothing, even if you wear it for work: suits, shirts, dresses, ordinary shoes. If you are not sure, the page says contact HMRC. Do not ask a chat tool to reclassify a jacket as protective clothing because you wore it on a job.

Tools, and the van

Tools are not all treated the same way. If you use traditional accounting, the overview says you claim capital allowances for equipment, machinery, and business vehicles such as vans. You cannot claim capital allowances if you use the £1,000 trading allowance. If you use cash basis, a car is still a capital allowance, and other items you buy and keep for the business are allowable expenses. Which basis the books are on is a fact from your records, not a guess a draft should make.

For the van, HMRC allows either the actual costs or a flat mileage rate, not both for the same vehicle. The vehicles page (opens in a new tab) says the flat rate replaces insurance, repairs, servicing, and fuel. It covers cars, except those designed for commercial use, such as black cabs or dual-control instructors' cars. It covers goods vehicles, and a van is HMRC's example. It covers motorcycles. You cannot use it for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances for, or already put through as an expense.

The rates on that page, read on 16 October 2026:

For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, cars and goods vehicles are 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p. Motorcycles are 24p.
Before 6 April 2026, cars and goods vehicles were 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p. Motorcycles were 24p.

HMRC's note on the increase (opens in a new tab) says that rise, from 45p to 55p on the first 10,000 miles, takes effect from 6 April 2026. Do not reprice a 2025 to 2026 log at 55p.

HMRC's example for the new rate: 11,000 business miles is 10,000 times 55p (£5,500) plus 1,000 times 25p (£250), so £5,750. You do not have to use the flat rate for every vehicle. Once you use it for one, you must keep using it while that vehicle is in the business. Parking and other travel, such as a train fare, can be claimed on top.

CIS deductions are not an expense

A Construction Industry Scheme deduction is an advance payment towards tax and National Insurance, not a cost of plaster or diesel. HMRC's page for subcontractors (opens in a new tab) says you record, on the Self Assessment return, the total pay before deductions as income, and the total deductions contractors have taken as CIS deductions. HMRC works out the tax and takes off the deductions. If you still owe tax, you pay it by 31 January following the end of the tax year. If a refund is due, HMRC pays it back. You need the payment and deduction statements. Putting the net figure in as turnover, and the deduction in as an expense, counts the same money twice and hides the gross. The Self Assessment guide is where the 31 January 2027 date for the 2025 to 2026 year is set out.

The gross, before the deduction, is also the self-employment income that can count towards Making Tax Digital qualifying income. Expenses come off the profit. They do not come off that test. The start dates are in the Making Tax Digital guide. VAT that the customer accounts for under the domestic reverse charge is not an expense either, and it is not a CIS deduction. The invoice wording is in the reverse charge guide.

Sort these notes into a list I can check against my receipts. UK English. Use pounds. Do not invent amounts, dates, miles, or suppliers. Do not say an item is allowable unless I have pasted an HMRC line that names that kind of cost. If a figure is missing, write MISSING. Do not change 45p to 55p unless I say the miles are for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

Accounting basis I use, or "not stated": cash basis or traditional
Mileage rate I am using, and the tax year:
Notes:
[paste only lines you are happy to share]

Do not paste a Unique Taxpayer Reference, a National Insurance number, or a card number. Read every line against the receipt. If the draft has turned ordinary shoes into safety boots, delete that line.

Explain this mileage sum in plain English. UK English. Use only the miles and the rate I type. Do not look up a different rate. Show the first 10,000 miles and the miles after that as separate lines. If the miles are missing, write MISSING.

Tax year:
Business miles:
Rate for the first 10,000 miles:
Rate after 10,000 miles:
Parking and other travel I have receipts for, or "none":

Check the multiplication yourself. The deadlines guide says when the return has to be in.

Coming soon

Coming soon: The Trades Tax Pack

The pack is not on sale yet. Until then, the free prompt pack comes with the weekly email: prompts for quotes, chasing payment, tax admin, and customers.

Common questions

What mileage rate does HMRC allow from 6 April 2026?

For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, simplified expenses for cars and goods vehicles are 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p. Before 6 April 2026 the first 10,000 miles were 45p, then 25p. Motorcycles stay at 24p.

Does HMRC allow ordinary clothes as an expense?

No. HMRC allows protective clothing such as safety boots or hard hats, and overalls if you only use them for work. Everyday clothing, including ordinary shoes, is not allowed even if you wear it for work.

Are CIS deductions an expense?

No. HMRC says you record the pay before deductions as income, and the deductions as CIS deductions. HMRC takes them off the tax. If you still owe tax, you pay it by 31 January after the tax year.