Allowable expenses for the UK self-employed. You can claim costs incurred wholly and exclusively for your business. The main HMRC categories are: office costs (stationery, phone, internet, business use of home), travel (fuel, parking, train/bus — not ordinary home-to-work commuting), clothing that's a uniform or protective wear (not everyday clothes), staff and subcontractor costs, stock and raw materials, legal and financial costs (accountant/solicitor fees, insurance, bank charges), marketing/advertising, and training that keeps your skills current in your existing trade. You can either claim your actual allowable expenses or use the flat £1,000 trading allowance — not both. Always check the current list on gov.uk. Educational information, not tax advice.
The 31 January deadline. The UK tax year runs 6 April to 5 April. If you file online, both your Self Assessment return and any tax owed are due by midnight on 31 January following the end of that tax year. Paper returns are due earlier, by 31 October. A late online return triggers an automatic £100 penalty, even with no tax to pay. If you make payments on account, a second payment is due 31 July. Verify current dates/penalties on gov.uk.
The SA103F. The SA103F is the full self-employment supplementary page of the Self Assessment return, where income and expenses are broken into HMRC's boxes. You use the full pages once turnover reaches HMRC's threshold (currently £90,000 — check gov.uk). ExpenseBot produces a Tax Form Summary for the UK that organises captured expenses against the self-employment categories, so the numbers are ready to transcribe onto your SA103F. ExpenseBot does not fill in or submit the SA103F PDF, and is not a tax agent.
Receipts without the shoebox. A claim you can't evidence is one you can't safely defend, and by late January the records are scattered. ExpenseBot connects to Gmail once and scans the whole UK tax year (6 April–5 April), reads amount/VAT/supplier from each receipt, and categorises them into a Google Sheet you own — receipt images stored in your own Google Drive. Earlier tax years can be recovered with a Deep Scan.
Learn more: Self Assessment Expenses · Expense Tracker UK.