Where your expense categories go on your tax return
Every category Keepr creates for you, the HMRC box it files under, and the two kinds of spending that are not tax-deductible.
Every expense you record lands in one of HMRC's expense boxes on your Self Assessment return. Keepr does that mapping for you. This page shows exactly which box each of your starting categories uses, and which two kinds of spending are not tax-deductible.
Where each category goes
These are the categories Keepr creates for you when you sign up. Anything you add yourself files under Other expenses until you choose a box for it.
| HMRC box | Categories that file under it |
|---|---|
| Admin costs | Office Expenses: Furniture, Hardware, Postage and Packing, Printing, Software, Stationery, Supplies; Utilities: Internet, Telephone |
| Advertising costs | Advertising & Promotion: Paid Advertising, Website |
| Business entertainment costs (not tax-deductible) | Meals & Entertainment: Client Entertainment, Client Meals |
| Car / van / travel expenses | Insurance: Vehicle Insurance; Rent: Vehicle Rental; Travel: Accommodation, Airfare, Meals While Travelling, Parking, Public Transport, Taxi; Vehicle: Fuel, Maintenance, Mileage |
| Cost of goods | Other Expenses: Cost of Sales |
| Depreciation (not tax-deductible) | Other Expenses: Depreciation |
| Finance charges | Other Expenses: Bank Charges |
| Interest on loans | Other Expenses: Interest |
| Maintenance costs | Office Expenses: Maintenance; Use of Home as Office: Maintenance |
| Other expenses | Other Expenses: Commission & platform fees, Contractors, Taxes |
| Premises running costs | Insurance: Contents Insurance, Professional Indemnity; Rent: Equipment Rental, Office Rental; Use of Home as Office: Council Tax, Mortgage Payments, Rent, Utilities; Utilities: Electricity & Gas |
| Professional fees | Professional Fees: Accountancy Fees, Legal Fees |
| Wages & staff costs | Staff: Training, Wages |
The two that are not tax-deductible
Most business costs reduce the tax you owe. Two do not, and HMRC still expects to see them on your return, so you should keep recording them.
Changing where a category goes
You can move any category to a different box, and you do not need to have connected Keepr to HMRC to do it. The box decides whether the expense counts as tax-deductible, and which figure it appears in on your return.
- Open Expense Categories and click the category you want to change. To make a new one, click Add Expense category in the top-right toolbar.
- Pick a box from Tax category. Leaving it on Not set (filed as Other expenses) files that spending under Other expenses.
- Click Save.