Tax-Deductible Expenses for Micro-Entities: What You Can and Cannot Claim
Running a qualifying UK micro-entity company keeps reporting light — short annual accounts, minimal notes and a Corporation Tax return — but the tax rules are just as strict as for larger businesses. One of the simplest ways to cut your Corporation Tax bill is to claim every allowable expense. Claim too little and you overpay; claim costs HMRC disallows and you risk an enquiry, interest and penalties. This guide explains what you can and cannot deduct.
Getting to grips with tax-deductible expenses for micro-entities starts with the golden rule: an expense must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. Where part of a cost is private, you must apportion it and claim only the business slice. For tailored help applying these rules to your company, visit
https://microentityaccounts.co.uk/
Office and administration costs are the easiest wins. Stationery, postage, printing, business phone calls, the business proportion of your mobile bill, software subscriptions and professional insurance are all deductible. If you work from home, HMRC allows a flat rate of £6 per week with no receipts, or you can calculate the actual cost of lighting, heating and broadband for the rooms and hours you use.
Travel costs are deductible when the journey is genuinely for business. That covers public transport, fuel for business miles, or HMRC's approved mileage rates of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter if you use your own car. Meals and accommodation count when they are incidental to travel away from your normal workplace. Ordinary commuting, however, is never allowable.
Staff costs are fully deductible: gross salaries, employer's National Insurance contributions and pension contributions all reduce taxable profit. Training that updates your existing skills is allowable too. A course that teaches you an entirely new trade, however, counts as capital expenditure and cannot be deducted.
If you are unsure about a particular cost, check it against HMRC's own A to Z of expenses and benefits, the official guidance on what counts as allowable:
https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-a-to-z . Bookmark it alongside your bookkeeping system and check anything borderline before you claim.
Equipment and larger purchases need care. Depreciation must be added back in the tax computation because it is never deductible, but you can claim capital allowances instead. The Annual Investment Allowance currently covers up to £1 million of qualifying plant and machinery a year, so most computers, tools and office equipment bought by a micro-entity attract full relief in the year of purchase.
Professional fees are deductible when they relate to the trade. Accountancy fees, revenue legal costs and business consultancy all qualify. Legal fees for acquiring a capital asset, or for defending a director personally, do not.
Some costs are never claimable. Entertaining clients is disallowed in full, however genuine the business purpose, although staff entertaining within the £150 per head annual limit is deductible. Fines and penalties of every kind are disallowable, including Companies House late filing penalties, HMRC surcharges and parking fines.
Anything with a dual purpose that cannot be split fails the test. Ordinary clothing, your daily lunch at your normal workplace and the personal element of your home broadband are all off the list. Where a cost genuinely serves both business and private purposes, claim only the business proportion and keep evidence of how you worked it out. The burden of proof is always on the company, not on HMRC.
A few grey areas catch directors out every year. Food is deductible only when it is incidental to qualifying business travel, not when you simply eat near your regular workplace. With cars, compare running a company car, with its benefit-in-kind tax, against claiming mileage for your own car; the simpler option usually wins for a micro-entity. If you operate through a personal service company, check the off-payroll working rules before assuming how expenses are treated.
Record-keeping ties everything together. Keep receipts, invoices, bank statements and mileage logs for at least six years from the end of the accounting period, because HMRC can ask for the evidence behind any claim. Note that most of the adjustments above are made in the tax computation behind your CT600, not in the filed micro-entity accounts, which is why the two documents rarely show the same profit figure.
Getting expenses right means a lower tax bill and a quiet life with HMRC. If you would like fixed-fee preparation and filing of your micro-entity accounts, CT600 Corporation Tax return and Companies House filings, speak to Micro Entity Accounts:
https://microentityaccounts.co.uk/Tax-Deductible Expenses for Micro-Entities: What You Can and Cannot Claim
Running a qualifying UK micro-entity company keeps reporting light — short annual accounts, minimal notes and a Corporation Tax return — but the tax rules are just as strict as for larger businesses. One of the simplest ways to cut your Corporation Tax bill is to claim every allowable expense. Claim too little and you overpay; claim costs HMRC disallows and you risk an enquiry, interest and penalties. This guide explains what you can and cannot deduct.
Getting to grips with tax-deductible expenses for micro-entities starts with the golden rule: an expense must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. Where part of a cost is private, you must apportion it and claim only the business slice. For tailored help applying these rules to your company, visit https://microentityaccounts.co.uk/
Office and administration costs are the easiest wins. Stationery, postage, printing, business phone calls, the business proportion of your mobile bill, software subscriptions and professional insurance are all deductible. If you work from home, HMRC allows a flat rate of £6 per week with no receipts, or you can calculate the actual cost of lighting, heating and broadband for the rooms and hours you use.
Travel costs are deductible when the journey is genuinely for business. That covers public transport, fuel for business miles, or HMRC's approved mileage rates of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter if you use your own car. Meals and accommodation count when they are incidental to travel away from your normal workplace. Ordinary commuting, however, is never allowable.
Staff costs are fully deductible: gross salaries, employer's National Insurance contributions and pension contributions all reduce taxable profit. Training that updates your existing skills is allowable too. A course that teaches you an entirely new trade, however, counts as capital expenditure and cannot be deducted.
If you are unsure about a particular cost, check it against HMRC's own A to Z of expenses and benefits, the official guidance on what counts as allowable: https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-a-to-z . Bookmark it alongside your bookkeeping system and check anything borderline before you claim.
Equipment and larger purchases need care. Depreciation must be added back in the tax computation because it is never deductible, but you can claim capital allowances instead. The Annual Investment Allowance currently covers up to £1 million of qualifying plant and machinery a year, so most computers, tools and office equipment bought by a micro-entity attract full relief in the year of purchase.
Professional fees are deductible when they relate to the trade. Accountancy fees, revenue legal costs and business consultancy all qualify. Legal fees for acquiring a capital asset, or for defending a director personally, do not.
Some costs are never claimable. Entertaining clients is disallowed in full, however genuine the business purpose, although staff entertaining within the £150 per head annual limit is deductible. Fines and penalties of every kind are disallowable, including Companies House late filing penalties, HMRC surcharges and parking fines.
Anything with a dual purpose that cannot be split fails the test. Ordinary clothing, your daily lunch at your normal workplace and the personal element of your home broadband are all off the list. Where a cost genuinely serves both business and private purposes, claim only the business proportion and keep evidence of how you worked it out. The burden of proof is always on the company, not on HMRC.
A few grey areas catch directors out every year. Food is deductible only when it is incidental to qualifying business travel, not when you simply eat near your regular workplace. With cars, compare running a company car, with its benefit-in-kind tax, against claiming mileage for your own car; the simpler option usually wins for a micro-entity. If you operate through a personal service company, check the off-payroll working rules before assuming how expenses are treated.
Record-keeping ties everything together. Keep receipts, invoices, bank statements and mileage logs for at least six years from the end of the accounting period, because HMRC can ask for the evidence behind any claim. Note that most of the adjustments above are made in the tax computation behind your CT600, not in the filed micro-entity accounts, which is why the two documents rarely show the same profit figure.
Getting expenses right means a lower tax bill and a quiet life with HMRC. If you would like fixed-fee preparation and filing of your micro-entity accounts, CT600 Corporation Tax return and Companies House filings, speak to Micro Entity Accounts: https://microentityaccounts.co.uk/
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