5 Overlooked Tax Deductions for Freelancers in the UK, Germany & UAE

Tax season presents a challenging experience for freelancers operating in Germany, the UK, and the UAE. Some valuable tax deductions which often escape notice include both common expenses such as computer equipment and office rent. We have selected five underutilized deductions exclusive for freelancers across Germany UK and the UAE which this guide explains how to claim them. Study these rules to optimize your savings as well as maintain your earned income intact.

• Home Office (Workspace) Costs

• Travel & Vehicle Expenses

• Equipment, Tools & Software

• Insurance & Professional Fees

• Training & Education Costs

Home Office (Workspace) Costs
1- Working freelancers frequently operate from house-based offices but forget to claim these costs as business expenses. The UK allows home workers to request reimbursement for their rent costs and utility bills together with internet fees when they maintain a workspace solely for work needs.
2- One room in your flat which functions as your office enables you to claim deductible portions of your utility payments. Germany demands strict adherence to work-related tax regulations. You need to work from your home office primarily to achieve 100% tax deductible status. If you want an alternative option you have the choice to apply the €1,260 annual flat-rate for home-office expenses.
3- Maintain all proofs of payment for office expenses including rent and heating expenses and co-working costs. The UAE now allows freelancers to submit actual office rent or co-working space fees as business costs through corporate tax yet every expense linked to amateur home usage remains inaccessible.

Travel & Vehicle Expenses
1- Many freelance workers fail to recognize what expenses they can deduct. Anybody operating their own vehicle for work can claim business mileage through HMRC-approved rates (45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles) together with train fares, bus costs, flight expenses and business-related accommodation.
2- Business travel expenses including railway transport along with taxis and flights and hotel costs constitute Betriebsausgaben in the German tax system. You can deduct your cost of monthly public transit or BahnCard when you use them preferentially for client meetings.
(Note: German tax law excludes commuting expenses between home and one designated workplace from business deductions. (Read: Daily office-to-home transportation without a set workplace location cannot be declared for tax benefits in Germany.) You may deduct 70% of all travel meals as an expense.
3- Save your invoices as evidence while recording who participated in the meetings. The corporate tax deduction system in the UAE permits self-employed professionals to claim travel expenses during business activities as long as the business interactions create revenue opportunities.

Equipment, Tools & Software
Many a freelancer forget that subscriptions, whether hardware and digital tools are fully deductible business expenses. In Germany, things like computers, printers, cameras and even mobile phones that are used for work purposes fall under the category of Betriebsausgaben and they can be claimed.
1- Germany also has another rule that allows companies to utilize cheap tools as assets up to €800 as an immediate expense. In the UK, tax relief includes any costs that are deemed required for work or particular industry – for instance, you are allowed to claim the cost of work laptop computers as well as subscriptions to certain pieces of software and trade publications.
2- Similarly, cost like app subscriptions (cloud services, design or accounting software) are considered business-related expenses in all areas. The current UAE’s corporate tax laws permit deduction for operational expenses that may include the purchasing of software and office equipment among others. Remember to save every invoice of any business gadget or subscription; even if they are monthly.

Insurance & Professional Fees
Even though freelancers cover many an expense that is tax write-off if you’re wise enough to know how. In Germany, premiums for business insurances particularly professional liability and equipment insurance is fully deductible as Betriebsausgaben.
1- For instance, fees related to accounting, legal, and tax advisory services – such as a year’s worth of a tax software or the cost of hiring an accountant – are tax-deductible. Similarly, in Britain the following is also valid: of public liability, indemnity, etc for the business and subscription fees for professional associations or trade unions may be claimed
2- Subscriptions to trade organizations/journals are also allowable as are other subscriptions that are relevant to your work. In the UAE, ‘professional services’ (legal, accounting, consulting) and business insurance costs are particularly named as the allowable expenses
3- To sum it up, anything that you spend to subsidize or manage your freelance business, including insurers or consultants that you hire, is considered a deduction.

Training & Education Costs
It is also important to note that investing in skills also reduce taxes. Education expenses associated with your current employment are usually tax-deductible: educational expenses of trade-related courses, conferences or other certifications can be provided for in the UK
For instance, taking a web-based course to enhance your current set of designs is valid while taking a course to be a nurse for example is not valid. In Germany, similar rules apply: any further training (Fortbildung) as it relates to the freelance segment of your business is a Betriebsausgabe. This comprises of industry seminars, technical books and even trade magazine. This many freelancers don’t take advantage of – if a course assists in doing your current job, then, save the receipts for the course and claim it. In the UAE, training costs would be covered under corporate taxation as any other business expenses would be so any courses or workshops carried out at the expenses of the business can help decrease the taxable profit.

Ready to Maximize Your Deductions?
Every penny matters when one is on his/her own account. It will also help to keep proper records of your expenditure and learn how to offset items such as home office expenses, travel, equipment, insurance, and training expenses do that can enable you to pay less tax. Want to save even more? That is why we defined these tips as a small checklist.