You bought a camera, a ring light, editing software and a faster phone to grow your TikTok. The good news is that the right share of those costs comes off your taxable profit. The catch is that HMRC only lets you deduct the business part, and creators routinely get the split wrong in both directions.
This guide is about deductible costs, not income. If you want the rules on gifted products and PR boxes, that's a separate topic we cover in our tax on PR gifts for TikTok creators post. Here we're answering a different question: of everything you spend to make content, what can you actually claim?
We'll walk through the core rule HMRC applies, the everyday running costs, your home office, big-ticket kit like cameras and computers, and how to split anything you use for both work and life. Figures are for the 2025/26 tax year and apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland sets its own income tax rates, but the expense rules here are UK-wide).
What expenses can a TikTok creator claim in the UK?
You can deduct the costs you incur "wholly and exclusively" for your content business. That covers equipment, props, software, a fair share of your phone and internet, and either a flat rate or an apportioned slice of your home running costs. Larger kit such as cameras, lighting and computers is usually claimed through capital allowances (the Annual Investment Allowance), reduced for any private use. Anything you use for both business and personal life must be split, and you only claim the business part.
So the test isn't "did this help my channel?" It's "what proportion of this cost was genuinely for the business?"
What does "wholly and exclusively" mean for creators?
Every self-employed expense deduction in the UK runs through one rule. To be allowable, a cost must be incurred "wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade". That phrase comes from section 34 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, and HMRC explains it in its Business Income Manual.
Read strictly, it sounds harsh: if a cost has any non-business purpose, the whole thing can be disallowed. A coffee you'd have bought anyway doesn't become deductible because you scrolled comments while drinking it.
But there's a crucial relief built in. Where you can identify a definite, measurable part of a cost that is wholly and exclusively for business, you can claim that part. HMRC calls this apportionment, and it's exactly how creators handle phones, broadband, and home running costs that serve both work and life.
In plain terms: a purely personal cost gets nothing, a purely business cost gets claimed in full, and a genuinely mixed cost gets claimed at a fair, evidenced business percentage. The skill is being honest and consistent about that percentage.
Which day-to-day running costs are allowable?
Most of what keeps a content business ticking over is straightforwardly deductible, because it's bought for the trade. HMRC's own list of allowable categories for the self-employed includes office costs, advertising and marketing, financial costs like insurance and bank charges, and training that maintains your business skills.
For a typical TikTok creator, the everyday allowable costs include:
- Props, set materials and consumables bought for content (backdrops, products you demonstrate, ingredients for a recipe video).
- Software and subscriptions used for the business: video editing apps, scheduling and analytics tools, stock music or graphics licences, cloud storage.
- Microphones, SD cards, batteries, tripods and small accessories that are low-cost and short-lived.
- Advertising and promotion, including boosting posts or running ads to grow the channel.
- Professional costs such as accountancy fees and relevant business insurance.
- Business use of your phone and broadband, claimed as a fair proportion (more on splitting this below).
Two things to watch. First, everyday clothing isn't allowable just because you wear it on camera; HMRC only allows protective clothing or genuine uniforms, not an outfit you could wear normally. Second, the cost of buying the trade's "infrastructure" (a camera or computer that lasts for years) is treated differently from these running costs. That's the capital allowances section below.
If you sell through TikTok Shop as well as making content, your stock and selling fees follow their own rules. Our guidance for TikTok creators sets out how the pieces fit together.
How do I claim home office costs?
If you film, edit and manage your channel from home, you can claim towards your household running costs. There are two routes, and you pick whichever gives the better, defensible result.
The simplified flat rate
HMRC lets you use a flat monthly rate based on the hours you work from home each month, so you don't have to measure actual bills. You need to work at least 25 hours a month from home to use it.
| Hours worked from home per month | Flat rate per month |
|---|---|
| 25 to 50 | £10 |
| 51 to 100 | £18 |
| 101 or more | £26 |
The flat rate is simple, but it does not cover telephone or internet. You claim those separately as a business proportion of your actual bills. At the top band, the flat rate is £26 a month, which is £312 over a full year.
The actual-costs method
Alternatively, you work out a reasonable business share of your real household costs: a slice of heating, electricity, broadband, and (for some costs) rent or council tax. HMRC's guidance suggests dividing costs by something sensible, such as the number of rooms you use for business or the time you spend working from home.
For example, if you use one of five rooms as a dedicated workspace for part of the day, you'd claim a fraction of the relevant bills that reflects both the space and the time. The actual method takes more record-keeping but can beat the flat rate if you genuinely work long hours from a dedicated space with high bills. Keep the bills and your calculation.
A practical point we see often: don't claim a room as used 100% for business if it's also your spare bedroom. Beyond the lost accuracy, exclusive business use of part of your home can create a capital gains question when you sell. A fair, part-time split is usually the safer and more honest answer.
How do I claim for cameras, lighting and computers?
Big, long-lasting kit is treated as capital, not as a running cost. You claim it through capital allowances, and for most equipment the headline tool is the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA).
The AIA lets you deduct the full cost of qualifying "plant and machinery" in the year you buy it, up to a generous limit (currently £1,000,000, which no individual creator is going to trouble). For creators, qualifying kit typically includes cameras, lenses, lighting, computers and laptops, and other durable equipment used to make content.
A few rules matter:
- Cars don't qualify for AIA. They have their own, separate capital allowance rules.
- You can't claim AIA on items you already owned and then brought into the business, or on things given to you. There's a different basis for kit you owned personally before you started trading.
- You must reduce the claim for private use. If you use a piece of equipment partly outside the business, you cut the allowance by the non-business proportion.
HMRC's own example makes the private-use rule concrete: buy a £600 laptop and use it half the time for non-business reasons, and you claim capital allowances on £300, not £600.
So a £900 camera used only for filming content is claimed in full. A £1,200 laptop used 70% for the channel and 30% for personal browsing is claimed at £840. The principle is identical to running costs: only the business share is deductible.
How do I split mixed business and personal use?
Most creators run their work life through the same phone, broadband and devices they use personally. HMRC expects you to apportion these on a fair and reasonable basis and claim only the business part.
HMRC's worked example for a phone is the clearest model. Take an annual phone bill of £200 split into £130 of personal calls and £70 of business calls; you claim the £70 business portion. The same logic applies to your broadband, your phone handset, and any device with mixed use.
How to keep it defensible:
- Pick a sensible measure. For a phone or broadband, that might be a representative period reviewed against your actual usage; for a device, an honest estimate of business versus personal time.
- Write down your method and apply it consistently. HMRC accepts a reasonable, evidenced split that holds until your circumstances change.
- Keep the underlying bills and a short note of how you reached the percentage. If asked, you want a one-line answer, not a guess.
The mistake we most often see is a round "50%" pulled from nowhere. A figure you can explain (and that matches how you actually use the thing) is far stronger than a tidy number you can't back up.
To see the effect on your overall tax, you can model your profit and the tax due with our self-employed tax calculator once you've worked out your allowable costs.
Illustrative example: a creator's first-year expenses
Illustrative example. Priya is a UK TikTok creator working as a sole trader (a generic example, not a real client). In her first full year, 2025/26, she works out her allowable expenses.
Running costs (claimed in full or as a business share):
| Cost | Basis | Allowable amount |
|---|---|---|
| Editing software and subscriptions | Wholly business | £180 |
| Props and consumables for videos | Wholly business | £240 |
| Phone bill (£600 total, 60% business) | Apportioned | £360 |
| Broadband (£420 total, 40% business) | Apportioned | £168 |
| Home working, flat rate (101+ hours, £26 x 12) | Simplified flat rate | £312 |
| Running costs subtotal | £1,260 |
Capital allowances (AIA, reduced for private use):
| Equipment | Cost | Business use | AIA claimed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera and lens | £900 | 100% | £900 |
| Ring light and tripod | £150 | 100% | £150 |
| Laptop (editing and personal) | £1,200 | 70% | £840 |
| Capital allowances subtotal | £1,890 |
Priya's total allowable deductions for the year are £1,260 plus £1,890, which is £3,150.
Note she used the home-working flat rate (£312) and then claimed broadband separately, because the flat rate doesn't cover internet. She did not also claim a separate share of heating and electricity, since the flat rate already covers those. Mixing the flat rate for home costs with a separate, honest broadband split is allowed and often the simplest approach.
If Priya's income exceeded her costs, those £3,150 of deductions reduce her taxable profit pound for pound, which in turn affects her income tax and her Class 4 National Insurance (charged on profits above the £12,570 Lower Profits Limit for 2025/26).
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim my camera and laptop as a TikTok creator?
Yes, where they're used for the business. Durable kit like cameras, lenses, lighting and computers is normally claimed through capital allowances, usually the Annual Investment Allowance, which lets you deduct the cost in the year of purchase. If you also use an item privately, you reduce the claim by the private-use share. HMRC's example: a £600 laptop used 50% privately is claimed on £300.
How much of my phone and internet can I claim?
Only the business proportion. HMRC's guidance gives a phone example: a £200 bill split into £130 personal and £70 business means you claim £70. Apply the same fair-split logic to broadband, using a method you can explain and evidence, and keep the bills.
Should I use the home office flat rate or actual costs?
Use whichever gives the better, defensible result. The flat rate is £10, £18 or £26 a month depending on hours worked from home (you need at least 25 hours a month), and it doesn't cover phone or internet, which you claim separately. The actual-costs method splits your real household bills on a reasonable basis and can be worth more if you work long hours from a dedicated space, but it needs more records.
Can I claim clothes I wear in my videos?
Generally no. HMRC only allows protective clothing or a genuine uniform, not everyday clothing, even if you only wear an outfit on camera. Costumes or branded kit that you genuinely couldn't wear as normal clothing are a different matter, but ordinary clothes don't qualify.
What does "wholly and exclusively" actually rule out?
It rules out costs with a mixed purpose where you can't identify a clear business part, and anything that's really personal spending. The relief is that where a definite, measurable proportion of a cost is for the business, you can claim that proportion. So a mixed phone bill is fine to apportion, but a coffee you'd have bought anyway isn't deductible just because you worked nearby.
Do these expenses reduce my National Insurance too?
Yes. Allowable expenses reduce your taxable trading profit, and your Class 4 National Insurance is charged on that profit. For 2025/26, Class 4 applies on profits above the £12,570 Lower Profits Limit, so lower profits mean less income tax and less Class 4 NIC.
