Courses, certifications and conferences are a real cost for many sole traders. Whether they reduce your tax depends on one question: does the training serve the business you already run, or equip you for a different one?
Written and reviewed by James Whitfield · Last reviewed 19 October 2026 · Checked against 2026/27 HMRC rates · Editorial standards · Methodology
Yes, if the training relates to your existing business. GOV.UK says you can claim courses that improve skills you currently use, keep you up to date with technology in your industry, develop new skills for changes in your industry, or support the business, such as admin skills.1 You cannot claim training to start a new business or move into areas not directly related to your industry.12 A £600 course saves £156 at the basic rate (20% Income Tax plus 6% Class 4 NI). Travel to a course or conference is business travel, and overnight hotels and meals count.3
Related: Allowable expenses: full list · Travel expenses · Self-employment tax return pages
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GOV.UK's rule is that training is an allowable expense when it improves skills and knowledge you currently use for your business, keeps you up to date with technology used in your industry, develops new skills related to changes in your industry, or develops new skills that support your business, including administrative skills.1
HMRC's Business Income Manual explains the line behind this: training that updates existing expertise, or adds expertise within your existing area of business, is a revenue expense and normally allowable. Training that gives you a new qualification to enter a new area is treated as capital and is not.2
HMRC gives worked cases in its manual.2 They are a useful guide to where the line falls.
| Wedding photographer: refresher course on editing software | Likely allowable |
| Plumber: bookkeeping course to run the business | Likely allowable |
| Potter: e-commerce and website courses to sell online | Likely allowable |
| Gas boiler fitter: training to fit heat pumps | Likely allowable |
| Personal trainer: basic nutrition qualification for existing clients | Likely allowable |
| Makeup artist: tattooing courses to open a tattoo studio | Not allowable |
| Taxi driver: painting and decorating course for a new business | Not allowable |
| Sportswear retailer: sports science degree | Not allowable |
A conference, trade show or industry event follows the same logic: the ticket is allowable if it serves the business you run, for example keeping up with your industry or meeting suppliers and customers. Attending as a private interest is not.
The travel to it is business travel. You can claim fares or mileage and parking, and where the trip needs a night away, the hotel and meals on that overnight trip.3 Entertaining clients, suppliers or customers, including hospitality at events, usually cannot be claimed.4
A self-employed web designer with £35,000 profit pays £600 for an advanced course on tools she already uses to build sites. HMRC's manual gives a very similar case as allowable.2 Her profit falls to £34,400.
| Course fee | £600.00 |
| Saving at basic rate: 26% (20% Income Tax + 6% Class 4) | £156.00 |
| Saving if profit were in the higher-rate band: 42% (40% + 2%) | £252.00 |
Record the course fee, any books or materials, and the travel as business expenses in the year you pay them, and keep the booking confirmation and a note of how the course relates to your business. On the self-employment pages they go into your expenses total. If you use the £1,000 trading allowance instead of expenses, you cannot claim them.
Yes, when the training relates to your existing business: updating skills you use, keeping up with technology or changes in your industry, or admin skills that support the business. Training to start a new business or move into an unrelated area is not allowable.
No. HMRC treats training that equips you for a new trade or a new area of work as capital expenditure, which is not an allowable expense.
Yes, if the conference serves your current business. Travel to it is business travel, and a hotel and meals on an overnight trip can be claimed. Entertaining clients at the event usually cannot.
At the basic rate in 2026/27, 26% of the cost (20% Income Tax plus 6% Class 4 NI): £156 on a £600 course. In the higher-rate band it is 42%.
Keep the invoice or booking confirmation and a short note of how the course relates to your business, in case HMRC asks.
The rates, thresholds and rules in this guide are drawn from the official HMRC and GOV.UK sources below, using the confirmed 2026/27 figures. Each link opens the relevant official page in a new tab.
The sole trader tax calculator turns this guidance into a concrete monthly take-home and tax reserve estimate, based on 2026/27 HMRC rates. Enter taxable profit — not turnover.