Self-Employment and Business Income

If you're self-employed, you must complete the self-employment pages of your Self Assessment tax return to report your business income and expenses. Getting this section right means calculating your taxable profit correctly and claiming all the deductions you're entitled to. This guide explains how...

5 min read

Calculating your taxable business profits is more than just adding up your income and subtracting what you've spent. You need to make specific adjustments following HMRC rules, claim capital allowances (tax relief on equipment and vehicles), and distinguish between allowable a...

5 min read

If you're self-employed or a sole trader, keeping accurate business records isn't optional — it's a legal requirement. You need these records to complete your Self Assessment tax return correctly, and HMRC can ask to see them if they check your return. This guide explains what...

6 min read

Overlap relief prevents you from paying tax twice on the same business profits when you start trading or change your accounting date. It's a record of profits you've been taxed on more than once that you can deduct when you stop trading, change your accounting date, or following recent rule changes...

5 min read

If you're running a business from home as a sole trader or partner, you can claim a portion of your household costs against your taxable profits. This includes expenses like heating, lighting, and council tax—either using actual costs or HMRC's simplified flat rate method. You...

4 min read

If you're running more than one self-employed business, you have choices about how to report them on your Self Assessment tax return. While you must keep separate records for each business, you can often combine them on your return — though there are important situations where...

5 min read

If your self-employed business makes a loss rather than a profit, you can use that loss to reduce your tax bill. There are several ways to claim relief for trading losses, including setting them against other income, carrying them back to previous years, or forward to future p...

6 min read

Understanding which business expenses you can claim is essential for reducing your tax bill and staying compliant with HMRC. If you're self-employed, you can deduct many costs that are incurred "wholly and exclusively" for your business, but the rules on what qualifies can be...

4 min read