Can I claim expenses for a business phone if it’s in my personal name?

Can I claim expenses for a business phone if it’s in my personal name?

It’s a really common situation: you take out a mobile phone contract in your own name, you use it for work (maybe a lot), and you wonder whether the cost can be treated as a business expense. The short answer is that a phone being in your personal name does not automatically stop it from being claimed. What matters is the business use, how you calculate it, what your business structure is (sole trader vs limited company), and whether you keep good records to support the claim.

That said, the way you claim it—and the amount you’re allowed to claim—can be very different depending on your circumstances. A sole trader generally claims the business proportion of the cost. A limited company needs to think in terms of company expenses, benefits-in-kind, reimbursements, and whether the contract is effectively a personal expense paid by the company. Add mixed personal and business use into the mix, and the rules become more about reasonable apportionment and evidence than about whose name is printed on the bill.

This article breaks down how claiming a phone expense works in real life, the difference between “reimbursement” and “company pays,” how to apportion costs fairly, what evidence to keep, and the common mistakes that cause problems. Although tax rules vary by country, the principles of separating personal and business use, documenting your method, and using a consistent approach are widely applicable.

Why the name on the phone contract is not the whole story

It’s easy to assume that if the phone contract is in your personal name, it must be a personal expense. In practice, business expenses are usually judged by purpose and use rather than by the name on the bill. If you are using the phone to run the business—taking client calls, using it for work emails, authenticating business logins, navigating to appointments, or running a delivery route—then there is a business element to the cost.

However, a personal contract creates two immediate issues:

First, mixed use is almost inevitable. Most people do not carry a separate phone for every role they have, so the same device and plan often covers both personal and business activities. That means you generally cannot claim the full cost unless you can demonstrate that use is wholly and exclusively for business (or the local rules allow a simplified method).

Second, if your business is a limited company, the company paying a bill that is legally yours can trigger additional tax or payroll considerations. The company needs to justify why it’s paying a personal liability, and you may need to structure it as reimbursement, director’s loan account movements, or a taxable benefit, depending on local rules.

Start with your business structure: sole trader vs limited company

Before you decide how to claim anything, you need to know what “you” and “the business” mean in your context. The distinction is crucial.

Sole trader (or self-employed individual)

If you’re a sole trader, you and the business are often treated as the same legal person for many practical purposes. That doesn’t mean you can claim personal costs freely; it means you can claim the business share of mixed expenses, including phone costs, provided you apportion them reasonably and keep records.

In this setup, it’s quite normal for the phone contract to be in your personal name. You can claim a percentage of the monthly plan and a percentage of any business-related additional charges, based on a sensible method.

Limited company (or incorporated business)

A limited company is a separate legal entity. Even if you’re the only director and shareholder, the company is not you. That changes how expenses work. If the phone contract is in your personal name, the company paying the bill directly can look like the company paying your personal expense. Depending on your local rules, that can create a taxable benefit or be treated as extra remuneration.

Companies often handle this in one of three ways:

1) The company takes out its own contract in the company name and provides the phone for business use (often the simplest long-term approach).

2) You pay the personal contract yourself and the company reimburses you for the business element, supported by evidence.

3) The company pays the whole bill, and you account for personal use through payroll or benefits reporting, or by reimbursing the company for the private portion.

Which route is best depends on administration, tax implications, and how much personal use exists.

What counts as a “business phone expense”?

Phone costs can include more than just the monthly tariff. Many people forget the related costs that may also have a business element. Typical categories include:

- Monthly plan charges (line rental, bundled minutes/texts/data)

- Handset cost (upfront payment or monthly device financing)

- Call charges outside your allowance (international calls, premium numbers)

- Data add-ons (extra data packs during busy work periods)

- Roaming charges for business travel

- SIM-only contracts vs bundled contracts

- Business apps or subscriptions billed through the phone account

- Insurance for the device (if it relates to a phone used for business)

Not all of these are treated the same everywhere, and some jurisdictions distinguish between the service (airtime) and the handset purchase. Even without diving into country-specific rules, the safe approach is to separate “the service you consume every month” from “the device you own/use” and then apportion the business element of each.

The key test: business use and reasonable apportionment

The phrase you’ll see in many tax systems is that an expense must be incurred “wholly and exclusively” for business, or there must be a clear business purpose. A phone used for both personal and business purposes is a mixed-use expense, so you usually claim only the business portion.

That leads to two practical questions:

1) How do you decide the business percentage?

2) What evidence do you need to back it up?

You don’t need to create an overly complex system, but you do need something that’s defensible. “I guessed 80%” is weak unless you can show why. A simple usage review for a sample period is often enough to create a reasonable basis.

Common apportionment methods that work in practice

Here are several methods people use. The best one is the one that matches how you actually use your phone and that you can evidence without too much friction.

1) Call and message log sampling

For many businesses, calls and texts are a major part of work use. You can review an itemised bill (or your phone’s call history) for a month, classify each call as business or personal, and then calculate the business ratio. If you want a more robust approach, sample three months across the year—one in a busy period, one average, one quiet.

Example: You review a month and find 120 calls total, 78 business and 42 personal. That’s 65% business calls. You might apply 65% to the airtime portion of the plan. If your plan is mostly data and you rarely call, this method may understate the business use.

2) Data-driven work-use estimate

If your business activity is mostly email, messaging apps, cloud systems, maps, and social media management, then data is the real cost driver. Mobile providers often don’t show itemised “business vs personal data,” so you may need a proxy approach. For example:

- If you have separate business and personal profiles/apps, estimate usage based on screen time per app category.

- Use your phone’s “Screen Time” or “Digital Wellbeing” report for a representative month and separate work apps (email, CRM, messaging with clients, maps during working hours) from purely personal apps.

This method is not perfect, but it can be reasonable when backed with screenshots or exported reports and a consistent approach.

3) Time-based working-hours method

Some people use a time-based approach: if you only use the phone for business during working hours, you estimate a business share based on the proportion of waking hours spent working. For example, if you work 40 hours a week and are awake 112 hours a week, you might argue for around 36%. This is usually a rough proxy and can be challenged if your personal use during work hours is significant or if you do substantial work in evenings/weekends.

This is best used as a cross-check rather than the only method.

4) Separate SIMs or eSIM: the cleanest split

If you can run a dual-SIM setup (physical SIM plus eSIM), you can keep a business line separate while still using one device. This doesn’t automatically make 100% of the phone cost claimable, but it creates a much clearer record of business calls and costs. You might:

- Put the business SIM in the business name and let the company pay it (for incorporated businesses).

- Keep the personal SIM in your name and pay it personally.

This is often the best “future-proof” solution when you want a cleaner boundary without carrying two devices.

5) Flat percentage with documented rationale

Sometimes the simplest approach is acceptable if you document the rationale: for example, “I used the phone for client calls and work messaging daily; I reviewed my call logs for two months and the business element ranged 55%–60%, so I used 60% for the year.”

The important part is the review and the documentation. If you later get asked, you can show how you arrived at the figure rather than relying on memory.

What part of the bill can you claim?

Once you’ve decided a business percentage, you apply it to the relevant costs. But “relevant” is doing a lot of work here. Many phone bills include multiple components, and not all are treated the same.

Airtime/service charges

The monthly plan is usually the easiest to apportion. If your plan is £40 per month and your business use is 60%, you might claim £24 per month as a business expense.

Extra charges that are clearly business-related (like a business trip roaming add-on used only for a work trip) may be claimed at a higher percentage, potentially even 100% if you can show it was purely for business.

Handset or device financing

If your bill includes a device repayment, you need to decide whether you are claiming the business use of the device. In many cases, you can claim a business proportion of the device cost, but the method and timing can differ depending on local tax rules and whether the device is treated as equipment. Even where the rules allow claiming it, you should be consistent: if you claim part of the device cost, you should also treat the device as partly business-use in your records.

If your business use is modest (say 20%–30%), it may be simpler to only claim the service portion and leave the handset cost as personal. Simplicity can be a legitimate choice, as long as you’re not overstating.

Upfront purchase of a phone

If you bought the phone outright, you may still be able to claim the business portion. The key questions are whether the purchase was for business needs and what proportion of use is for business. Keep the receipt, note the date you started using it for business, and document the business percentage method you used.

Accessories and repairs

Cases, screen protectors, charging cables, mounts, repairs, and insurance can also have a business element. If the phone is used 60% for business, you might treat those costs the same way. If an accessory is used exclusively for work (for example, a mount permanently installed in a work vehicle used for deliveries), you may have a stronger claim for a higher business percentage.

How to handle it if you have a limited company

If you operate through a limited company, the “phone is in my personal name” question is more sensitive. The company needs a clear and consistent policy for how it pays or reimburses phone costs.

Option A: The company reimburses you for the business portion

This is often the cleanest approach when the contract is in your name. You pay the bill personally, then submit an expense claim to the company for the business-use amount. The company reimburses you, and you keep evidence to show how the business percentage was calculated.

Practical tips:

- Create a simple monthly expense claim form or spreadsheet.

- Attach the phone bill each month or keep it in a digital folder.

- Apply the same business percentage consistently, revisiting it once or twice a year if your usage changes.

- If there are clear business-only extras (like business travel roaming), add them separately with a note.

This approach helps show that the company is paying only for business costs, not covering your personal liability in full.

Option B: The company pays the bill and you reimburse personal use

Some owners prefer the company to pay everything for simplicity. If you go this route, you generally need to make sure personal use is addressed. That might mean you repay the personal portion to the company or it’s treated as a taxable benefit/compensation depending on the rules where you are.

From a practical standpoint, if you do this, you should:

- Keep a clear calculation of business vs personal use.

- Make regular repayments for the personal portion (monthly or quarterly) so it doesn’t build up.

- Record the repayment properly in the company books.

This avoids the appearance that the company is paying personal expenses with no adjustment.

Option C: Move the contract to the company name

If the phone is genuinely a key business tool, the simplest long-term solution is often to move the contract into the company’s name or take out a new business contract. The company then pays for the phone directly, and you establish what level of personal use is allowed and how it will be handled.

Even then, mixed use can still exist. Some jurisdictions treat employer-provided phones differently if they are provided primarily for business. But you should still keep an eye on usage, especially if personal use becomes significant.

Keeping records: what to store and how detailed it needs to be

Record-keeping doesn’t have to be painful, but it does need to be consistent. The goal is to be able to answer: “How did you work out this expense and why is this amount business-related?”

Here’s a sensible record set for most small businesses:

- Copies of monthly bills (PDF downloads are ideal)

- Proof of payment (bank statement line or receipt)

- A note of the apportionment method used (for example, “call log sample month of March and September; business use averaged 58%; rounded to 60%”)

- Any screenshots/exported reports used (screen time reports, call log summaries)

- Notes on unusual business-only charges (roaming for a work trip, international calls to a supplier)

If your phone bill does not provide itemised details, use the alternative evidence available (call logs, screen time, or separate SIM usage). The key is that you can show a reasonable basis for your percentage.

What if your provider bill isn’t itemised?

Many modern mobile plans provide limited itemisation because calls and texts are “unlimited,” and data is bundled. That can make it harder to prove exact usage. If you can’t get an itemised bill, you can still create a defensible method using:

- Your handset call history over a representative period

- Screenshots of business contact calls or call duration summaries

- App usage reports from your phone

- Evidence of business necessity (client communications, on-call duties, delivery driving)

In other words, you replace provider itemisation with device-level evidence.

Common mistakes that lead to trouble

People rarely get into issues because they claimed a fair proportion of their phone bill. Problems tend to come from overclaiming, inconsistency, or lack of evidence. Watch out for these:

Claiming 100% when there is obvious personal use

If your phone is clearly used personally—family calls, social media, streaming, personal messaging—then claiming 100% is hard to defend. Even if you feel the phone is “mainly for work,” the safe claim is the business portion unless you genuinely have a separate personal device and can show business-only use.

Forgetting that handset finance is included

Some contracts bundle the device cost into the monthly bill. If you claim a percentage of the whole bill, you are also claiming part of the device cost. That may be fine, but you should be aware you’re doing it and ensure it matches your overall tax approach for equipment purchases.

Using a percentage once and never revisiting it

Your business may grow, you may hire staff, your role may change, or you may start using your phone differently. If your percentage was based on a small sample years ago, consider refreshing it periodically.

Claiming costs without actually paying them

This sounds obvious, but it happens: someone claims the expense but the bill was paid by someone else, written off, or refunded. Claims should be supported by both the bill and proof of payment, especially where the contract is personal.

Company paying personal bills without documentation

In a limited company, this is a major red flag area. If the company pays your personal phone bill, you need documentation showing the business basis and how personal use is dealt with.

Special situations

Some scenarios need a bit more thought.

If you only use your personal phone occasionally for work

If business use is truly minimal—say a handful of calls a month—it may not be worth claiming the monthly plan. Instead, you might claim only specific business-related costs (such as occasional international calls to a supplier) if you can identify them. Alternatively, you might decide the administrative effort outweighs the benefit and claim nothing. Not claiming is always allowed; overclaiming is what creates risk.

If you have two phones (one personal, one business)

If you maintain a separate business phone, claiming can be simpler. If the business phone is genuinely used only for business, the costs may be fully claimable. However, you should still be cautious if you regularly use that phone personally. The key is whether the personal use is trivial or substantial, and whether your local rules require any adjustment for private use.

If family members use the same plan

Family bundles can complicate things. If your phone plan covers multiple lines, only the business-related line (and its business portion) should be claimed. If you claim a percentage of the whole family bill, you would need a very clear basis, and it will often be difficult to defend. In practice, it’s usually cleaner to separate the business line or claim only the identifiable business line costs.

If you’re reimbursed by clients

Sometimes clients reimburse phone costs or you include them in your pricing. If you are reimbursed, you need to make sure you are not effectively claiming the cost twice (once as an expense and again as reimbursed income handled incorrectly). The bookkeeping should reflect the reimbursement properly.

If you use the phone as a hotspot for a laptop

If you regularly use your phone’s data connection to run business systems on a laptop while travelling, that strengthens the argument for a higher business-use percentage. Keep notes of when you do this and, if possible, capture data usage patterns for work trips.

Practical step-by-step: how to claim it cleanly

Here’s a simple, repeatable process that works for many people:

1) Decide what you’re claiming: just the monthly plan, or plan plus handset cost, plus extras.

2) Choose an apportionment method that fits your usage: call log sampling, app usage, or a combination.

3) Do a representative review: pick one month (or two) and classify business vs personal.

4) Calculate your business percentage and write it down with a short explanation.

5) Apply that percentage consistently to your monthly costs.

6) Store evidence in a folder: bills, proof of payment, and your calculation notes.

7) Refresh the percentage if your work pattern changes significantly.

For limited companies, add an extra step:

8) Choose a payment route: reimbursement, company pays with personal repayment, or move the contract to the company.

Consistency matters. A tidy, repeatable routine is much easier to defend than an ad hoc approach.

Can you claim back the full cost if the phone is “mainly” for business?

“Mainly” is not the same as “exclusively.” In most practical tax settings, if there is significant personal use, you claim the business proportion, not 100%. Even if business use is 90%, you should be prepared to show why it’s that high and what personal use exists. If you want to claim 100% while the contract is personal, you’d generally need very strong evidence that personal use is effectively zero and that you maintain a separate personal phone for private life.

If you do have two phones and you genuinely keep one exclusively for business, your position is much stronger. But you should still keep supporting evidence (like separate numbers, minimal personal contacts on the business phone, and usage patterns that match work activity).

Is it better to switch the contract into the business name?

Often, yes—particularly for incorporated businesses. A business contract makes the payment flow cleaner, and it reduces the awkwardness of a company paying a bill in your name. It can also simplify claiming and record-keeping because the invoice is already addressed to the business.

However, switching isn’t mandatory, and it can be inconvenient if you’re mid-contract or if the provider makes transferring difficult. If you keep it in your personal name, you can still claim the business portion, but you should be more disciplined about documentation and about handling personal use appropriately.

What about claiming phone costs when you work from home?

Working from home doesn’t automatically change how you claim mobile phone costs, but it might affect your business-use percentage. For example, if you use the mobile mostly when you’re out visiting clients, and you now do most client work via a laptop at home on broadband, your mobile business use might drop. Conversely, if you’re constantly taking client calls and managing work messaging from your phone while at home, business use might stay high.

Don’t assume last year’s percentage is still correct. If your working pattern has changed, do a fresh sample month.

A note on reasonableness and risk

With mixed-use expenses like phones, the “perfect” number is less important than a reasonable method applied consistently. Tax authorities and auditors typically focus on whether your claim is sensible and supported, not whether your percentage is accurate to the decimal point.

If you want a low-risk approach, consider these principles:

- Claim only the business share, not the whole bill, unless you truly have exclusive business use.

- Use a method you can explain in one paragraph.

- Keep evidence that matches your method.

- Be conservative when in doubt.

If you do that, the fact that the phone is in your personal name becomes much less important. It’s simply a practical detail of billing, not the deciding factor in whether there is a legitimate business expense.

Quick examples to make it concrete

Example 1: Sole trader with mixed use

You run a freelance design business and use your personal phone for client calls, emails, and project messaging. Your plan is £30 per month and you estimate 50% business use based on a month of call logs and app usage reports. You claim £15 per month as a business expense, keep the bills, and save screenshots from the month you used to calculate the percentage.

Example 2: Limited company director with personal contract

You have a limited company and your phone contract is in your name at £55 per month including device financing. You review usage and estimate 70% business. You pay the bill personally and submit a monthly expense claim for £38.50. The company reimburses you, and you store the bill and the calculation notes in the company records.

Example 3: Company pays but personal use is significant

The company pays your £45 monthly bill directly even though it’s in your name. You calculate 60% business and repay the company £18 each month for the personal portion, with the payment recorded clearly. You keep the calculation notes and bills to show the company isn’t covering private costs without adjustment.

Final takeaway

Yes, you can often claim expenses for a business phone even if the contract is in your personal name—but you usually can’t claim everything unless the phone is exclusively for business. The safe approach is to claim the business proportion using a reasonable, documented method and to keep clear records. If you operate through a limited company, pay extra attention to whether the company is reimbursing you or paying a personal bill directly, and make sure personal use is handled in a transparent, consistent way.

If you want the simplest long-term setup, consider separating business and personal use more clearly—either with a business contract, a separate SIM, or a dedicated business line. But if you keep your phone in your personal name, good documentation and a fair apportionment method are usually enough to support a legitimate claim.