What Can UK Creators Actually Claim? The 2026/27 Expenses Guide
"Can I claim my camera? My phone? These clothes I only wear on camera?" It is the question creators ask more than any other — and the honest answer is not a list. It is a test. Once you understand the test, most of the list answers itself.
The quick answer
You can claim a cost if it was incurred wholly and exclusively for your creator business. That is the statutory test, set out in section 34 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, and it is stricter than it sounds. A cost with a mixed business and personal purpose usually fails — unless the business part can be identified and separated, in which case you claim that proportion.
In practice:
Kit and software bought to make content — cameras, lighting, microphones, editing subscriptions, contractor fees — are usually straightforward.
Costs you would have had anyway — everyday clothing, hair, makeup, your general phone contract — are either not claimable or claimable only in part.
Shared costs — phone, broadband, home working, a laptop you also game on — are claimable at a fair business proportion, provided you can show your workings.
This guide primarily covers creators operating as sole traders. Limited-company rules can differ.
The test, and why it catches people out
Section 34 disallows any expense not incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. The word doing the work is exclusively.
The leading case is Mallalieu v Drummond. A barrister claimed the cost of the dark court clothing she was professionally required to wear and wore nowhere else. She lost, because the court found the expenditure also served the everyday purposes of warmth and decency — and that was enough to defeat the claim, whether or not she had consciously thought about it.
The lesson for creators is that "I only bought it for the video" is the argument that lost. What matters is the object of the expenditure, and an object can be present without being consciously intended.
So how does anyone claim a phone bill? Because the legislation allows a deduction for an identifiable part or proportion of a cost, where that part is itself wholly and exclusively for the trade. A suit cannot be worn 40% professionally. A phone bill can be itemised.
A useful first filter before any claim: would I have incurred this cost, in this form, if I did not make content? Treat that as an initial check rather than a substitute for the statutory test — some costs still fail because of an inherent personal purpose, even where you would honestly answer no.
Two points many published guides still miss
The mileage rate increased for 2026/27. The rate for cars and goods vehicles rose from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, staying at 25p above that. It was announced on 21 May 2026 with retrospective effect from 6 April 2026, and HMRC's policy paper confirms it applies to the simplified mileage rates used by sole traders, not only to employee reimbursements. On 3,000 business miles that is worth £300 of extra deduction. You need a mileage log, and once you use the flat rate for a vehicle you must keep using it for that vehicle. These rates are under review beyond 2026/27, with the outcome expected at Budget 2026.
The cash basis has been the default for most sole traders since 2024/25. It applies unless you elect to use traditional accruals accounting. Under the cash basis you record income when it reaches your account and expenses when you pay them, and capital allowances are generally unavailable — cars being the main exception. Most equipment is simply deducted as an ordinary expense in the year you pay for it. Where you invoice on long terms, finance equipment or hold stock, accruals accounting can give a materially different result, so it is worth a conversation rather than a default. Limited companies do not have the choice.
What creators can claim: three tiers
Tier 1 — usually straightforward
Costs that exist because your business exists.
Cameras, lenses, lighting, microphones, tripods and gimbals
Computer, monitors and storage
Editing software and creative subscriptions
Stock music, sound effects and footage licences
Props and set dressing bought for a shoot
Hosting, domains and scheduling tools
Contractor fees — editors, thumbnail designers, VAs
Accountancy and legal fees
Professional indemnity, public liability and equipment insurance
Bank charges and payment processing fees
Business travel — trains, flights, taxis, parking, and mileage at 55p
A note on agency commission. Where an agency acts on your behalf, the gross brand fee will normally be your turnover and the agency's commission a separate expense — so a £5,000 deal with 20% commission is £5,000 of income and £1,000 of expense, not a £4,000 deal. Check the agreement, because agency arrangements differ. This matters because the trading allowance, MTD and VAT tests each use their own statutory definitions, and expenses generally do not reduce the relevant top-line figure.
Tier 2 — claimable, with apportionment or evidence
Costs that are partly business and partly personal, where the business share can be identified.
Phone and broadband — the business proportion, on a method you can defend and apply consistently
Working from home — see the section below
Equipment you also use personally — the business proportion, with your reasoning recorded
Subscriptions used in content — strongest where a service is genuinely the subject of your content; weak where you would have subscribed anyway
Training — HMRC's position is more generous than most creators realise, and since 2024 covers new expertise within your existing business area, not only refresher courses
Tier 3 — usually not claimable, however it feels
Costs where a personal purpose is difficult or impossible to separate out.
Everyday clothing. Genuine costume, protective clothing and clothing that is recognisably a uniform may qualify. Adding branding to an otherwise ordinary item does not automatically make it deductible. HMRC's guidance on clothing is worth reading if this is a significant cost for you.
Regular hair, makeup, nails and cosmetic treatments. These normally serve an everyday personal purpose, even where appearing on camera is part of your work. Genuine theatrical or production-specific makeup may be treated differently.
Gym memberships and personal training, including for fitness creators.
Client and audience entertaining — specifically disallowed, however commercial the conversation.
Commuting — travel between home and a regular place of work, even when self-employed.
Mixed business and personal trips need particular care. A clearly separable business element may qualify, but adding some content work to what is essentially a private holiday does not make the trip deductible.
Working from home: the choice worth doing properly
There are two routes. The flat rate under HMRC's simplified expenses is £10 a month for 25–50 hours of business use, £18 for 51–100 hours and £26 for 101 or more — a maximum of £312 a year, needing only a record of hours, and not covering phone or internet. The alternative is apportioned actual costs: rent or mortgage interest, council tax, utilities and insurance, apportioned by rooms used and time used.
Illustration only. Not a personalised calculation.
A creator renting a five-room flat, with housing costs of £18,000 a year, using one room as a studio for around 70% of the time, could arrive at £18,000 × 1/5 × 70% = £2,520 on the apportioned basis, against £312 on the flat rate.
The flat rate exists for convenience, and for a side-hustler at the kitchen table it is the sensible choice. For a full-time creator whose home is the studio, defaulting to £312 because it is easier is one of the more expensive shortcuts available. The apportionment has to be reasonable and you have to be able to show the calculation — see HMRC's guidance on business use of the home.
One caution for homeowners. Where a room is used exclusively for business, it can affect Private Residence Relief on that part of the property when you sell, creating a Capital Gains Tax exposure. Take advice before setting up a dedicated, exclusively-business room.
Three misconceptions that cost creators money
"It's a business expense, so I get the money back"
You do not. An expense reduces your taxable profit, not your tax bill pound for pound.
Assumes England, Wales or Northern Ireland; 2026/27 rates; sole trader.
| Your position | Relief on £1,000 of expenses |
|---|---|
| Profits within the Personal Allowance, no other income, ignoring any use of trading losses | £0 immediate saving |
| Basic rate, and between the Class 4 profit limits | £260 — 20% Income Tax plus 6% Class 4 |
| Higher rate, above the Class 4 upper limit | £420 — 40% Income Tax plus 2% Class 4 |
A £2,400 camera does not cost you nothing. At the basic rate it costs you £1,776. Buying kit you do not need in order to "save tax" is a reliable way to lose money slightly more slowly.
"Paying from the business account makes it allowable"
It does not. The nature and purpose of the cost decide the answer, not the card it was paid with. A separate business account is genuinely worth having — it turns a forensic exercise into a bank feed — but it is a record-keeping tool, not a tax test.
"I'll take the £1,000 trading allowance and claim my expenses"
You cannot have both. It is one or the other, and you choose each year. If your gross income is £4,000 and your expenses are £600, the allowance is better. If your expenses are £1,800, claim them instead. Work out both before deciding.
Making a claim stick
In an HMRC enquiry, evidence that you bought something may not be enough — the business purpose matters too. Four things, captured at the time, resolve almost every question: the receipt, the date, the amount, and one line saying what it was for.
That last one is the only one that is hard to reconstruct later. "Ring light — second channel setup" takes four seconds to type and does more work in an enquiry than a shoebox of receipts.
If Making Tax Digital applies to you — from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income above £50,000, falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028 — records need to be kept digitally in compatible software and summarised quarterly. Qualifying income is measured on gross income before expenses, so a strong expenses position does not keep you out of MTD.
Keep records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year.
Related questions
Can I claim clothes I only wear on camera?
Usually not. Clothing serves an everyday purpose whatever your reason for buying it, which is what defeated the claim in Mallalieu v Drummond. Genuine costume, recognisable uniform and protective clothing are treated differently.
Should I use the flat rate or actual costs for working from home?
Work out both. The flat rate caps at £312 a year and needs almost no records. Apportioned actual costs are often considerably larger for a full-time creator, and require you to show the calculation. Homeowners should also consider the Capital Gains Tax point on exclusive business use.
Should I avoid claiming expenses in case it triggers an HMRC enquiry?
You should not leave out legitimate expenses simply because you are worried about an enquiry. HMRC can check any return; the important thing is that your figures are correct, reasonable and supported by appropriate records.
Where CreatorBooks fits
CreatorBooks is a UK accountancy firm built for creators. Expenses are one of the creator-specific areas we focus on most closely, because it is where the gap between the rules and the way creators actually work is widest — the clothing question, the home studio, the laptop that is also a games machine.
Not sure where you stand? The free Creator Tax Check takes about a minute and flags the areas worth looking at.
This article provides general information only and is not tax advice. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances, and rules and thresholds can change.