If you’re a UK-based content creator earning money from your platform, one of the most powerful ways to reduce your tax bill is to claim every legitimate business expense you’re entitled to. Yet most creators either claim too little and leave money on the table, or they claim things they shouldn’t, which can trigger an HMRC enquiry.
This guide cuts through the confusion. Here’s exactly what you can claim, what you can’t, and how to make sure you’re not overpaying tax.
Why expenses matter for your tax bill
When HMRC calculates how much income tax you owe, they tax your profit, not your total income. Profit is your income minus your allowable business expenses.
So if you earned £60,000 this year and had £15,000 in legitimate expenses, you’re taxed on £45,000, not £60,000. At the basic rate, that difference alone could save you £3,000 in tax.
Most creators are surprised by how much they’re legally allowed to claim. The key rule HMRC uses is this: the expense must be “wholly and exclusively” for the purposes of your business. If it serves a dual purpose (personal and business), you may only be able to claim a proportion of it, or nothing at all.
Equipment and technology
This is usually the biggest expense category for creators, and most of it is claimable.
Cameras and video equipment including DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, lenses, gimbals, tripods, lighting rigs, ring lights, softboxes, and microphones are all claimable if used for your content.
Computers, tablets, and phones are claimable if you use them for editing, scheduling, or managing your business. For phones, HMRC typically expects you to split the cost between business and personal use. If your phone is used 70% for business, you can claim 70% of the cost.
Accessories and peripherals such as hard drives, SD cards, monitor screens, keyboards, and drawing tablets all qualify if used for your business.
Software subscriptions including Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, Lightroom, CapCut Pro, and scheduling tools like Later or Buffer are fully claimable.
Home office costs
If you work from home, which most creators do, you can claim a portion of your household bills as a business expense. You have two options.
The first is HMRC’s simplified flat rate, which allows a fixed monthly deduction based on how many hours per month you work from home:
- 25 to 50 hours: £10 per month
- 51 to 100 hours: £18 per month
- 101 or more hours: £26 per month
The second is the actual cost method, where you work out the proportion of your home used for business and claim that share of your rent or mortgage interest, electricity, gas, broadband, and council tax. This usually produces a higher deduction but requires better record keeping throughout the year.
Internet and phone
Your broadband and mobile phone bills are partly claimable. Most creators use these heavily for work, from uploading content to communicating with brands and managing social channels, so a reasonable business proportion is easy to justify. A 50 to 80% business claim for broadband is generally acceptable for a full-time creator.
Travel and transport
Travel costs are claimable when the journey is made wholly for business purposes.
Claimable travel includes trips to meet brands, agencies, or clients, travel to filming locations specifically for your content, attendance at industry events or press trips, and business mileage if you use your own car. HMRC’s approved mileage rate is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p per mile after that.
What you cannot claim is your regular commute, personal holidays even if you post content during them, or travel to locations you would have visited anyway for personal reasons.
Professional fees and subscriptions
Any fees you pay to run your business properly are claimable. This covers accountancy and bookkeeping fees, legal fees for contract reviews, agent or management fees, PR agency fees, professional memberships, and industry publications relevant to your work.
Marketing and promotion
Money spent promoting your own brand or content is a business expense. This includes paid social media advertising, website hosting and domain registration, email marketing platform subscriptions, and any graphic design work commissioned for your brand.
Clothing and styling
This is one of the most misunderstood areas, and one where HMRC is particularly strict.
General clothing is not claimable, even if you only ever wear it on camera. HMRC’s position is that clothes can be worn outside work, so they do not pass the “wholly and exclusively” test. The narrow exceptions are costumes worn specifically for content that could not reasonably be worn in everyday life, and branded merchandise worn as part of a specific collaboration. If you’re a lifestyle creator buying outfits for your videos, HMRC will likely reject the claim.
Props, sets, and production costs
Props used specifically to create content are claimable, provided they are not items you would have bought for personal use anyway. Studio hire and set dressing for business content are fully claimable. If you outsource video editing, thumbnail design, or caption writing, those costs are fully deductible too.
Staff and contractors
If you pay anyone to help run your business, such as a video editor, virtual assistant, or social media manager, those costs are fully claimable. Most small creators use freelancers rather than employees, and freelancer payments are straightforward to claim.
Training and education
Training costs are claimable if the course is directly relevant to your existing business. A course on video editing, lighting techniques, or social media strategy would qualify. What is not claimable is training that sets you up for a completely different career or business. HMRC draws a clear line between improving existing skills and acquiring new ones for an entirely different purpose.
What you cannot claim
- Food and drink on a day-to-day basis, even if you are eating at your desk while working
- Personal holidays, even if you post content during them
- General clothing, as covered above
- Fines and penalties including parking tickets and late filing penalties
- Client entertainment, which HMRC specifically disallows as a deductible expense
Keeping records
You must keep records of every expense you claim. HMRC can ask to see them up to four years after the relevant tax year. For each expense, keep the receipt or invoice, a note of the business purpose, and bank or card statements showing payment. Digital records are perfectly fine, so scanning receipts into your accounting software as you go will save you a lot of stress at year end.
How much could you save?
There is no single answer because every creator’s situation is different. What we consistently find is that creators who work with an accountant claim more than those who go it alone, and they avoid the costly mistake of claiming things they should not. The result is a lower tax bill and far fewer surprises from HMRC.
Want to make sure you’re claiming everything you’re entitled to?
At Capshine, we work specifically with UK content creators and influencers. We will go through your expenses with you, make sure you are claiming correctly, and help you put a simple system in place that keeps your records tidy throughout the year.
Book a free 30-minute call. No jargon, no pressure, just straightforward advice.
Capshine is a UK accountancy practice specialising in digital creators and small businesses. This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute personal tax advice. Please seek professional advice for your specific circumstances.
