Hotels & overnight accommodation

Hotel and other overnight accommodation costs are allowable when a qualifying business journey genuinely requires an overnight stay — but the cost must be reasonable and any private nights must be excluded.

Sole traderAllowable

Ltd companyAllowable

EmployeeConditional

Conditions

The cost of a hotel or other overnight accommodation is allowable where you need to stay away from home because of a genuine business journey. HMRC's self-employed expenses guidance explicitly lists 'hotel rooms' as an allowable travel cost (GOV.UK, updated November 2024).
The stay must be genuinely necessary for business, not merely convenient. Staying overnight for a meeting within easy reach of home, when a day return would be practicable, is harder to defend than staying for a multi-day engagement or when early-morning commitments make travel the evening before commercially reasonable.
Only reasonable costs are allowable. HMRC does not publish a fixed nightly limit, but extravagant accommodation can be questioned. Where a trip mixes business and private nights, only the business nights are deductible.
For employees, the accommodation must relate to a qualifying business journey to a temporary workplace. The employer can reimburse hotel costs free of tax and National Insurance where the journey qualifies. An employee completing Self Assessment can claim tax relief on unreimbursed costs; for this HMRC requires receipts showing the date of stay and the name of the hotel.
For a limited company, hotel costs for directors and employees on qualifying business trips are an allowable cost for corporation tax purposes, and no benefit-in-kind arises where the stay is wholly for business.

Common mistakes

Adding personal leisure nights to a business trip and claiming the full hotel bill.
Booking accommodation when the destination is actually your permanent workplace — regular travel to the same place does not become allowable just because you occasionally stay overnight.
Forgetting to keep receipts: HMRC requires accommodation receipts that show the name of the establishment and the date of the stay.

What to keep

Hotel receipts or booking confirmations showing the establishment name, dates of stay and amount paid.
A note of the business reason for the overnight stay.

Real-world example

A freelance project manager is engaged for a six-week rollout at a client's site in Edinburgh. She lives in Manchester. The reasonable hotel costs for the nights she stays over are an allowable travel and accommodation expense. Any weekend nights she stays on for personal reasons are excluded from the claim.

Frequently asked

Is an Airbnb or serviced apartment treated the same as a hotel?

Yes — the type of accommodation is not the deciding factor. What matters is whether the overnight stay was genuinely necessary for a qualifying business journey. Keep booking confirmations or receipts showing the address, dates and cost.

Can I claim accommodation if the venue is only an hour from home?

Possibly, depending on the circumstances. If arriving at 7am for a full day's work, or leaving after an evening event, makes an overnight stay commercially reasonable, the cost is more likely to be allowable. The test is whether a reasonable businessperson in your position would stay overnight, not simply whether it is technically possible to make a day return.

Not sure how this applies to you?

The rules shift with your circumstances. A qualified accountant can confirm what you can claim and handle it for you.

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Related allowances

Source: HMRC guidance · Last checked 2026-06-18

This page is general information based on HMRC published guidance, not tax advice. Status shown is a plain-English summary — your own position can differ. Always check the HMRC source above and speak to a qualified accountant before making a claim.