Training courses
Last checked 17 June 2026 · HMRC source
The dividing line for training costs is the trade you already carry on. Keeping existing skills up to date is generally allowable — and since HMRC's 2024 guidance change, so is learning new skills within your existing business area if you're self-employed — but a course that sets you up in an entirely new trade or qualification often is not.
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Conditions
- For the self-employed, HMRC updated its guidance in 2024: training is an allowable (revenue) cost where it updates your existing skills OR gives you new skills or knowledge within your existing business area — including keeping pace with new technology and changes in industry practice. The old rule that any new skill was disallowed no longer applies.
- Training to start a completely new or unrelated trade is still not allowable — HMRC treats that as capital, because it creates a new and enduring asset rather than supporting the existing business.
- The training must relate to the trade you are already carrying on. Pre-trading training, before the business has started, generally does not qualify (though separate pre-trading expense rules may apply).
- For a limited company, training for directors and staff that relates to the company's trade is allowable, and there is a tax exemption for work-related training; training unrelated to the role can be paid for by the company but gets no Corporation Tax relief and may be a benefit in kind.
- For employees claiming relief themselves the test is much stricter, and own-cost training is rarely deductible — but training provided or funded by the employer for the job is normally tax-free.
Common mistakes
- Claiming a course that effectively launches a new and different line of work.
- Relying on the old rule that any 'new skill' is disallowed — since 2024, new skills within your existing business area are usually allowable for the self-employed.
- Assuming all professional development is automatically allowable regardless of how it connects to the current trade.
What to keep
- Course invoices and a description of the content.
- A note explaining how it relates to your existing work.
Real-world example
A self-employed electrician takes a course in installing EV charging points — a new skill, but within their existing trade. Under HMRC's updated 2024 guidance this is an allowable training cost, whereas before the change it might have been treated as capital and disallowed.
Frequently asked
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Related allowances
Source: HMRC guidance