Learn about Self Assessment tax categories

Learn about Self Assessment tax categories and find useful Self Assessment resources.

Self Assessment tax categories and the SA103F

Accounting Individual helps you record your business income and expenses and categorise them for tax purposes.

Your categorised transactions are used to complete the Self Assessment form (SA103F tax form) for self-employed individuals.

You'll find the SA103F within Reports.*

 NOTE: *Reports are not yet available, but will become available in a later release. 

At the end of the tax year, you'll have a completed form ready to help you or your accountant file your return.

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Expenses if you're self-employed

If you’re self-employed, your business will have various running costs. You can deduct some of these costs to work out your taxable profit as long as they’re allowable expenses.

Example

Your turnover is £40,000, and you claim £10,000 in allowable expenses. You only pay tax on the remaining £30,000 - known as your taxable profit.

Allowable expenses do not include money taken from your business to pay for private purchases (non-allowable expenses).

Allowable expenses

Allowable expenses are those you need to spend to run your business. These are deductible against your income when calculating taxable profit.

Examples include office costs, staff wages, and travel expenses.

Find out more about the deduction categories for allowable expenses >

Non-allowable expenses 

Non-allowable expenses (also known as disallowable expenses) are not deductible against your income when calculating taxable profit.

For example, non-business related expenses such as personal clothing, fines, and travel costs between home and business.

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It's important to accurately categorise expenses as allowable or non-allowable. This ensures compliance with HMRC and helps you avoid any penalties or fines.

Read our blog on Self-employed allowable expenses you can claim >

Self Assessment — HMRC help and resources

Read HMRC help on Expenses if you're self-employed >

Read HMRC's guide on how to calculate your taxable profits >

Read HMRC help on how to file your Self Assessment tax return online >