01/06/2026
Tax write offs business owners forget about
✨ Trivial gifts
→ Small gifts for directors/employees
→ Each transaction must be £50 or under
→ Capped at £300 a year for directors and family/household members
✨ Pension contributions
→ Paid from the company = usually corporation tax deductible
✨ Staff party
→ Christmas party, summer BBQ, chaotic bowling night
→ Up to £150 per person per year, and the same for their plus one
✨ Eye tests
→ Especially if you work on screens all day
✨ Medical checkups
→ Certain annual health screenings can be allowable
✨ Pay a family member a wage
→ If they genuinely work in the business
→ Admin, socials, bookkeeping, emails etc.
✨ Phone bill in the Ltd company name
→ Cleaner. Easier. An easy expense claim.
✨ Relevant life insurance
→ Life cover paid by the company, often tax deductible
✨ Director salary
→ If you don’t already have PAYE income elsewhere, this can unlock tax efficiencies + NI credits
✨ Mileage claim
→ Using your personal car for business?
→ Claim 55p a mile (from 6th April 2026) for the first 10k miles, 25p a mile thereafter
✨ Home office claim
→ If your kitchen table or spare room has become your corporate headquarters
The information in this post and any comments is for general information purposes only, and not for accounting and tax advice. You should speak to a qualified professional about your specific circumstances before acting upon any of the information in this post and its comments.
