Claiming expenses as a small business

So, you may be wondering, what expenses can I claim as a small business? And what’s the financial advantage of claiming for business expenses?”

When you’re running a small business, there’s a multitude of operational costs and business expenses that you’ll incur in the everyday running of the company. But which of these costs are classed as business costs and are therefore tax-deductible at year-end?

It is important to note that within this topic, these are expenses relate to reducing your small business income tax bill and that some of these expenses may not have GST input associated with them.

But the short answer is that you can claim any expenses which are related to the day-to-day running of your business.

By claiming these expenses against tax, you can directly reduce your overall income tax liability – and that means a smaller tax bill at year-end.

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As the owner of the business, you can claim for:

- Vehicle expenses, transport costs and travel for business purposes

- Rent paid on business premises

- Depreciation on items like computers, office furniture, or tools and vehicles

- Interest on borrowing money for the business

- Some insurance premiums

- Wages, staff salaries, contractor costs, or kiwi saver contributors

- Membership of professional associations

- Home office expenses

- Work-related mobile phones and phone bills

- Stationery

- Work uniforms

- Accounting and legal fees

- Marketing and software subscriptions

- 50% deductible on client entertainment

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If you’re unsure what you can and can’t claim, come and talk to our team here at MBS Advisors. We’ll be happy to run you through the eligible expenses and how you claim them against tax.

Get in touch here.

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