We are often asked about the different claims you can make when you’re self-employed, from hot tubs to sandwiches or even fancy dress costumes. The most common question we are asked is “can I claim back my petrol expenses for travelling to work?”

If you have been self-employed for a few years, you will have probably had a conversation (or possibly even an argument) with your accountant about your ability to claim expenses related to travel.

On the face of it, it would seem reasonable to suggest that any cost you have incurred in order to perform your work is an allowable business expense, does it not? Surely your travel to work is absolutely necessary to your ability to carry out your trade?

Unfortunately, as you may be aware, HMRC do not follow this line of thinking.

The argument for this being the idea that you could technically live closer to your place of work, meaning that the travel expenses in fact are primarily to allow you to live where you please, providing you with a personal benefit that is of no specific benefit to your business.

So this begs the questions, are there any travel expenses (other than the obvious one off longer distance journeys) that are actually allowable?

Base of Operations

There is some good news if you base your business at home and then travel to various different places to perform your duties. In this case, there seems to be no reason to suggest that travel expenses are to be disallowed, although a bit of caution may be advised, as it could be difficult to establish your base of operations in the eyes of HMRC.

The key here is whether the nature of the various jobs undertaken can be argued as being “temporary”. If you will be travelling to a particular place for a finite, defined period, and once the job is finished you intend to perform your trade elsewhere, it can be argued that this is a temporary place of work and therefore travel should be allowable.

Obviously, the final decision on whether such travel is allowable should be decided based on your particular situation, and in discussion with your accountant.

If you have questions about which expenses you can claim contact your accountant or contact us to discuss:

Call 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.