{"id":6051,"date":"2022-08-31T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?p=6051"},"modified":"2025-09-09T17:13:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:13:55","slug":"youre-expensing-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/tax-basics\/youre-expensing-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I expense my bed and pillows?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For any of us that needs to do a tax return, you\u2019ll know that one of the important parts of the process is claiming back your business expenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why, you ask?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve bought a laptop, for example, or an office chair or even a coffee over a client meeting, you can claim these costs back and reduce the tax that you pay on your profits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/expenses\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expenses<\/a> here.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HMRC are lenient in what they\u2019re willing to accept as a business expense. But many have used this inch to take a country mile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Remember the Expenses Scandal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in May 2009, chaos erupted at Westminster as The Telegraph reported the hoards of MPs claiming outlandish and pricey expenses. The scandal was at full pelt for around five weeks and saw five MPs and two peers jailed in the aftermath.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tax in 10(ish) seconds - what are expenses?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H2yyiSfSdoE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wait&#8230; what?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It all started in 2005 when two journalists put in Freedom of Information requests for MPs expenses. In the same year, the Freedom of information Act (2000) came into force, enabling us to <a aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/make-a-freedom-of-information-request\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">access recorded information held by public authorities<\/a>. These requests were rejected twice and prompted a legal battle that lasted three years before a High Court judge ruled in favour of the journalists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fast forward 3 years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2008, there was a scramble to redact the information, but all in vain as a hard disk (remember the noughties?) containing a reported <a aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pressgazette.co.uk\/mps-expenses-telegraph-scoop-still-stands-as-a-testament-to-power-of-investigative-journalism-decade-on\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two metres-worth<\/a> of receipts was sent to a number of news outlets. The Telegraph were the first to publish the leaked documents which revealed myriads of expenses claimed with taxpayer money.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s see the receipts \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Conversative MP <a aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2009\/may\/19\/expenses-hogg-conservatives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Douglass Hogg<\/a> claimed back \u00a32,115 in expenses for cleaning his moat; former Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed \u00a36,000 in \u201ccleaning expenses\u201d;&nbsp; current MP Michael Gove claimed \u00a37,000 to furnish his London home then a further \u00a313,000 for <a aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/stamp-duty-tax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stamp Duty<\/a> on a separate property; Sir Peter Viggers claimed \u00a320,000 in gardening expenses and \u00a31,645 for a 5ft duck house; former Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed \u00a36,990 for roof repairs two days before stepping down; former Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell claimed almost \u00a310,000 on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/blog\/2009\/may\/22\/mps-expenses-responses\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cscatter cushions, a king-sized bed and a flatscreen television\u201d<\/a>. The list goes on.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HMRC: they\u2019ve seen it all<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although less outrageous, it\u2019s not just MPs who are guilty of claiming dubious expenses. Lots of us try to slide weird and wonderful \u201cbusiness\u201d purchases under the Self Assessment carpet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HMRC&#8217;s top 5<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/self-assessment-returns-unbelievable-excuses-and-dubious-expenses\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5 claims<\/a> that HMRC has rejected as allowable expenses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A carpenter claiming \u00a3900 for a wide-screen TV and sound bar to \u201chelp him price his jobs\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a340 for extra-wooly underwear for five years<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a3756 for pet insurance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A family holiday to Nigeria<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A music subscription (for music during work)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do expenses work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All is not lost. You don\u2019t have to file your tax return in fear that your expenses will be publicly ridiculed or smeared across the media. What\u2019s really important is to keep a record of all that you\u2019ve spent. And you should do this from the start of the tax year so you know exactly what to deduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips and tricks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For a full guide on what you can expense for your business, here are <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/self-employed-claimable-expenses\/\">our top tips<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For any of us that needs to do a tax return, you\u2019ll know that one of the important parts of the process is claiming back your business expenses. Why, you ask? If you\u2019ve bought a laptop, for example, or an office chair or even a coffee over a client meeting, you can claim these costs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":41578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,301],"tags":[356,102],"class_list":["post-6051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-tax-basics","tag-expenses","tag-hmrc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can I expense my bed and pillows? &#8211; Taxfix (formerly TaxScouts)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For any of us that needs to do a tax return, you\u2019ll know that one of the important parts of the process is claiming back your business expenses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/tax-basics\/youre-expensing-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can I expense my bed and pillows? &#8211; Taxfix (formerly TaxScouts)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For any of us that needs to do a tax return, you\u2019ll know that one of the important parts of the process is claiming back your business expenses.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/tax-basics\/youre-expensing-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taxfix_uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-31T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T16:13:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/25Q3_TS_Rebrand_UK_Website_Content_Blog-and-guides_youre-expensing-what.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gemma Doswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/tax-basics\/youre-expensing-what\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/tax-basics\/youre-expensing-what\/\",\"name\":\"Can I expense my bed and pillows? 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