Marketing & Advertising
Marketing & advertising
The cost of promoting your business — online ads, a website, printed materials, listings — is generally an allowable running cost.
Business cards & printed materials
Business cards, flyers, leaflets, brochures, catalogues and other printed promotional materials are allowable revenue expenses, deductible in the period they are incurred. They are straightforward advertising costs — there is no capital or revenue complexity to resolve, and no per-person limit applies (unlike branded gifts).
Website design & build
Website costs split into two very different categories for tax purposes. Ongoing running costs — hosting, domain renewal, maintenance and content updates — are revenue expenses, deductible in full. The original cost of building a website, and any major rebuild that creates a new and enduring asset, can be capital expenditure rather than revenue — meaning it cannot simply be deducted as an expense. Getting this split right is the key judgement call for website spend.
Trade shows & exhibitions
Exhibition stand hire, event space fees, booth construction and display materials are allowable business promotion costs — trade shows are not business entertainment. However, the costs of food, drink and hospitality provided to visitors at the stand are disallowed as business entertainment, even if the event itself is a legitimate marketing exercise. Travel and accommodation to the show follow the normal business travel rules.
Photography & video for marketing
Photographer and videographer fees, studio hire and post-production costs commissioned to promote the business are allowable revenue expenses. Marketing photography and video is consumed relatively quickly in the course of promotion and rarely creates a capital asset — though a very substantial production intended to endure for many years without update could be capital. In practice, most commercial shoots are revenue.
Branded merchandise & promotional gifts
A promotional gift to a customer or contact is allowable only if it meets three conditions simultaneously: it must carry a conspicuous advertisement for the business on the item itself; it must not be food, drink, tobacco or a voucher; and the total cost of gifts to the same person must not exceed £50 per tax year (for unincorporated businesses) or per accounting period (for companies). Fail any one condition and the expenditure becomes disallowed business entertainment.