Marketing & advertising
Last checked 17 June 2026 · HMRC source
The cost of promoting your business — online ads, a website, printed materials, listings — is generally an allowable running cost.
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Conditions
- Spending to promote the business is allowable — online ads (Google, Meta, LinkedIn), a business website's running costs (domain, hosting, maintenance), SEO, branding and design, printed materials such as flyers and business cards, signage and vehicle livery, directory listings and email marketing tools.
- Routine website costs are revenue and allowable, but a major new website build that creates a lasting asset can be capital — relieved differently rather than deducted in full. The same can apply to a substantial rebrand or logo design.
- Sponsorship is allowable where it genuinely generates publicity for the business, with your name or logo displayed, rather than being a personal donation.
- Watch the line with entertainment and gifts: hospitality dressed up as marketing is disallowed, and a promotional gift is only allowable if it costs under £50 per person a year, carries your business's advert or logo, and is not food, drink or a voucher.
Common mistakes
- Treating significant website development as a simple expense when part of it may be capital.
- Claiming a sponsorship that is really a personal donation with no business publicity.
- Slipping client hospitality into the marketing budget — entertainment is disallowed even when it looks like promotion.
What to keep
- Invoices for advertising, design and platform spend.
Real-world example
A new business runs a social media advertising campaign and prints business cards. These promotional costs are allowable against the business.
Frequently asked
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Related allowances
Source: HMRC guidance