Common allowable expenses
Tradespeople tend to have a clear and well defined set of costs, and most of them are allowable when they are genuinely for the job. The main ones are:
- Tools and equipment, from hand tools to power tools and test gear, with the Annual Investment Allowance giving 100% relief on up to £1,000,000 of qualifying spend on the bigger items.
- Protective clothing and PPE such as steel toe boots, hard hats, gloves, goggles and high visibility gear.
- The van and motoring costs, claimed either as actual running costs including fuel, insurance, repairs and servicing, or as mileage at 45p for the first 10,000 miles then 25p.
- Materials bought for jobs, such as pipe, cable, timber, fittings and consumables.
- Travel to temporary sites where you are not based permanently.
- Insurance such as public liability and tools cover.
- Phone costs for the business proportion of your calls and data.
- Branded workwear that carries your business name.
- Training and tickets that keep your existing qualifications and cards current.
For more detail on claiming as a sole trader, see our page on self assessment allowable expenses.
Expenses people often miss
Plenty of legitimate costs go unclaimed simply because the receipts are lost or the spend feels too small to bother with. Small tools and consumables bought in cash, such as blades, fixings and abrasives, add up over a year and are all allowable. Protective clothing and branded workwear are often forgotten even though they are clearly claimable, unlike everyday clothing.
Other commonly missed costs include the renewal of trade tickets and cards, professional or trade body subscriptions, bank charges and interest on business borrowing, a fair share of phone and a portion of home costs if you do quoting and admin from home. If you claim actual van running costs rather than mileage, it is easy to overlook items like the MOT, breakdown cover and parking for jobs. Keeping receipts as you go, backed by simple bookkeeping, makes sure these are captured.
Risky or commonly challenged expenses
The areas HMRC looks at hardest are clothing, private use and entertaining. Everyday clothing is not allowable, even if you only wear it on site, because it also keeps you warm and decent. Only genuine protective clothing and branded workwear qualify. Client entertaining is never allowable, so taking a customer for a meal cannot reduce your profit.
The van and phone are the usual flashpoints for private use. If you use the van or phone privately as well as for work, you can only claim the business proportion, not the full cost, so claiming 100% when there is clear personal use will be challenged. Fuel for private journeys is not allowable. Training that takes you into a completely new trade, rather than keeping your current skills and tickets up to date, is also commonly disputed.
Records to keep
Keep every receipt and invoice for tools, materials, PPE and van costs, and hold on to the paperwork for ticket renewals, insurance and subscriptions. If you claim mileage rather than actual costs, keep a log of the date, the job, the reason and the miles. If you claim actual van costs, keep all the motoring receipts and a sensible split between business and private use.
You should keep your records for at least 6 years. Good records make your self assessment straightforward and back up every claim if HMRC asks. A simple routine of photographing receipts and logging mileage as you finish each job keeps everything in order without much effort.
A worked example
A self employed electrician with a van and tools
Tom is a self employed electrician. In the tax year he has £55,000 of income. He spends £3,500 on materials for jobs, £1,200 on tools and test equipment that qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, £350 on PPE and branded workwear, £600 on public liability and tools insurance, and £280 renewing his card and a short refresher course. He drives 9,000 business miles in his van and claims mileage at 45p, which is £4,050. His phone is used 70% for work, so he claims £294 of his £420 annual bill. His allowable costs total £10,274, which reduces his taxable profit from £55,000 to £44,726. Capturing the smaller items like PPE, the card renewal and the business share of his phone added over £900 of relief he might otherwise have missed.
Common mistakes
The most common slip is claiming everyday clothing, which is not allowable, while forgetting the genuine PPE and branded workwear that is. Mixing up business and private use on the van and phone is another, where claiming 100% despite obvious personal use leads to part of the claim being disallowed.
Tradespeople also lose money by failing to keep receipts for cash purchases of tools and materials, by switching between the mileage method and actual costs without realising they must stick to one approach for a vehicle, and by treating a big tool purchase as a simple expense rather than claiming it correctly under the Annual Investment Allowance. Putting customer hospitality through as a cost is a frequent error too, since entertaining is never allowable.
What you should do
Get into the habit of photographing every receipt and logging your mileage as you finish each job, and keep your business spending separate from personal money. Decide whether mileage or actual van costs suit you better and stay consistent. Make sure you are claiming all the smaller items, PPE, ticket renewals and the business share of your phone, that quietly add up.
If you would rather hand the numbers to someone who knows the trades, TaxTune works with plumbers, electricians, joiners and builders every day. You can start your quote for a fixed fee service, and our page for accountants for tradespeople explains exactly how we help you keep more of what you earn.
A clear guide to the costs plumbers, electricians, joiners and builders can claim in 2026/27.