Non-business expenses

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by a Tolley Employment Tax expert
Employment Tax
Guidance

Non-business expenses

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by a Tolley Employment Tax expert
Employment Tax
Guidance
imgtext

Introduction

In order for an expense to be tax deductible, it must be incurred because of an employee’s employment. Any non-business related expense is, therefore, not relievable except in some very particular circumstances.

This guidance note deals with three separate issues. The first is where an expense has both a business and private element. In this case some, or indeed all, of the expense may be allowable. The second case is where an expense must be treated as a non-business expense and is not deductible for tax purposes. The third is expenditure which appears on principles to be non-business yet qualifies as non-taxable, usually due to statutory provision or HMRC concession.

Dual purposes

In order to claim a deduction for tax purposes, the expenditure must be incurred ‘wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties of the employment’. This is discussed in the Expenses ― general rule guidance note. If an expense is not incurred for these reasons then it is disallowed.

However, despite the strictness of this test, it is understood that there are instances

Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
TAKE A FREE TRIAL NOW
Powered by Tolley+™
  • 10 Nov 2025 10:50

Home/ Tolley Tax Guidance/ Employment Tax / Paying expenses to employees

Popular Articles

Owner-Managed Businesses

Relief for employee share schemes

Relief for employee share schemesRemuneration expenses are generally deductible for corporation tax purposes as they are considered to be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. However, expenses relating to shares are usually classed as capital and are therefore not

14 Jul 2020 13:21 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Corporation Tax

Double tax relief

Double tax reliefWhen income arises in a foreign country to a UK resident company and that income is taxable in that foreign country, the UK may give the company relief for the foreign tax by crediting the foreign tax against the UK tax charged on that income. This might include withholding tax on

14 Jul 2020 11:31 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Value Added Tax

VAT registration ― change of VAT registration details

VAT registration ― change of VAT registration detailsVAT registered persons must keep their VAT registration details up to date and notify HMRC of any changes. Failure to notify HMRC by the relevant time could result in a penalty. For guidance regarding penalties for failure to notify please see the

14 Jul 2020 13:57 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more