articles/Business/selfemployedtax-page1
Published 01/12/2011
Are you travelling to The Societies Convention in January? If the answer is yes, you might want to know what you can claim back in the form of travelling expenses.
Tax law is clear. If you are self employed you can claim for any travel expense as long as they are incurred "wholly and exclusively" for business purposes. In reality it means that if you have incurred costs that you can attribute to your business, with no personal benefit, you can claim them.
Usually when we say this, the response is "OK. But what can I claim?" Understandably - people want facts. Although it's impossible to offer a definitive answer, it is possible to give some general guidance:
Travel
General travel to the event should be allowed - it's irrelevant how you get there or what it costs. This is because of the rule "wholly and exclusively". There is nothing about it being necessary, or about it being the cheapest option. So whether you travel by car, train, bus, tube, train or a combination of these you can offset the costs against you tax.
Accommodation
So you have arrived at the Convention, what next? You may need to stay overnight and probably eat.
The basic rules are that the cost of meals taken away from the normal place of business is not generally tax deductible, as everyone must eat.
There are 40 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025