Camera & photography equipment

Conditions

1. A camera or photography kit used in the trade qualifies as plant and machinery — apparatus used for carrying on the business (CA21010). It qualifies for the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), giving 100% relief in the year of purchase up to £1 million per accounting period. From April 2026, a 40% first-year allowance applies to qualifying new main-rate assets where spending exceeds the AIA; the main-pool writing-down rate reduces to 14% (from 18%).
2. Under the cash basis — the default for most unincorporated businesses from 2024/25 — cameras and photography equipment (other than cars) are claimed directly as allowable expenses in the year of purchase, rather than through capital allowances.
3. Dual use is the central issue for cameras. A professional photographer who also uses the same camera for personal photography must restrict the claim to the business proportion and keep a record showing how that proportion was assessed. Where equipment is kept in a dedicated studio or used exclusively for client work, the full cost is normally allowable.
4. For a limited company, a camera purchased by the company for business use is a company asset and the cost is an allowable deduction. If a director also uses the equipment privately, the private element creates a potential benefit-in-kind consideration.
5. Employees — such as a staff photographer, journalist, or videographer — can claim capital allowances on a camera or kit that is necessarily required for the performance of their employment duties, where there is no significant private use and the employer has not provided or offered to provide the equipment (EIM36500).
6. Consumable items used with the equipment — such as memory cards (replaced regularly), batteries, and cleaning supplies — are typically revenue running costs rather than capital items.

Common mistakes

• Claiming 100% of the cost of a camera that is also used for personal photography — only the business proportion is allowable.
• Under traditional accounting, treating a significant camera purchase as a day-to-day expense rather than claiming through capital allowances.
• An employee claiming relief where the employer has provided a camera or would do so on request.

What to keep

• Purchase invoices or receipts for cameras, lenses, lighting, and accessories showing the item and cost.
• A note of the business-use proportion and the method used to assess it, particularly where the equipment is also used privately.

Real-world example

A freelance photographer buys a camera body (£2,400) and two lenses (£1,800 combined) for client portrait and event work, used entirely for business. Under the Annual Investment Allowance, she claims the full £4,200 in the year of purchase. She also buys spare memory cards during the year — these are treated as revenue running costs rather than capital items.

Frequently asked

Related allowances