Can I claim expenses for business training that improves my skills?

Understanding the question: training, skills, and tax relief

Business owners and self-employed professionals invest in training all the time: a short course to sharpen existing expertise, a certification to increase credibility, a workshop to learn a new technique, or a conference to keep up with an industry. The practical benefit is clear—better skills can mean better work, higher fees, fewer mistakes, and more resilient businesses. The tax question, though, is less straightforward: can you claim the cost of business training as a deductible expense when it improves your skills?

The answer is often “sometimes,” and it depends on why you are taking the training, how it relates to your current trade, and whether it is maintaining existing capability or creating a new one. Most tax systems draw a line between training that keeps you competent in your existing business and training that qualifies you for a different trade or materially changes what you do. That dividing line is the heart of the issue, and understanding it will help you make decisions confidently and document them properly.

This article explains how the rules typically work in practice, the difference between allowable training and disallowable personal development, how to handle mixed-purpose costs, and what records to keep so that your claim is defensible. While your local rules may have their own terminology and exceptions, the core principles are remarkably consistent: deductibility tends to follow the connection between the expense and your existing income-earning activity.

What counts as “business training” for expense purposes?

Business training is a broad label, and in everyday language it can include everything from formal qualifications to informal coaching. For expense claims, you usually need to think in terms of “what the training does” and “what it’s for.”

Training that is most commonly accepted as a business expense tends to fall into categories like:

1) Updating or refreshing knowledge that you already use in your business (for example, new rules, new software versions, new standards, or new best practice methods in your established field).

2) Improving efficiency or effectiveness within your existing trade (for example, advanced technique training in the same profession, specialist workshops that build on your current services, or continuing professional development that clients expect).

3) Maintaining professional standing or required competence (for example, CPD, mandatory regulatory training, annual safety refreshers relevant to your work, or compliance courses needed to keep trading).

Training becomes harder to claim when it is more like “starting something new” rather than “improving how you do what you already do.” That includes training that qualifies you for a new occupation, gives you a fundamentally different capability, or is primarily personal rather than business-motivated.

The key principle: the “wholly and exclusively” (or equivalent) test

In many jurisdictions, an expense is deductible when it is incurred solely for the purpose of your trade, business, or profession. Some systems use the phrase “wholly and exclusively,” others use “ordinary and necessary,” and some use similar wording in their legislation and guidance. The names differ, but the idea is consistent: the cost must be sufficiently connected to earning your business income, and it must not be primarily personal.

Training expenses can fail this test for two common reasons:

Personal benefit is too dominant. Many types of training make you “better” in a general life sense—confidence, communication, mindfulness, personal productivity, general leadership. Even if those improvements help your business indirectly, tax rules often treat them as personal development unless you can show a clear, direct link to your specific business activities.

The training changes your trade. If the training is aimed at enabling you to do a different job or operate in a different line of business, it may be viewed as capital or personal investment rather than a revenue expense of your existing trade. Put simply, if the course is about becoming someone different, rather than doing your current work better, it is more likely to be disallowed.

Improving existing skills vs. acquiring new skills

One of the most misunderstood aspects of training deductions is the “new skills” concept. It’s natural to think, “Any training gives me new skills, so surely I can never claim.” In reality, most training introduces something new. The more useful distinction is whether the training is an extension of your current trade or a gateway to a new one.

Consider these two examples:

Example A: A freelance graphic designer takes an advanced course in a design tool they already use, or a workshop on branding strategy that they already offer to clients. This is improving capability in the same field and is typically closer to an allowable expense.

Example B: The same designer trains to become a qualified electrician. Even if their long-term plan is to “run a business,” this training is not connected to their existing design trade. It is preparing them for a new profession, and is far less likely to be deductible against current design income.

The point isn’t that training must be basic or repetitive. Advanced training can be deductible if it builds on the work you already do. The risk increases when the training provides a foundational qualification for a separate career path or materially changes the nature of your business.

When training is more likely to be allowable

If you want to claim training expenses confidently, look for factors that strengthen the business link. Training is generally more defensible as an expense when:

It relates directly to your current services or products. If your business already sells a service, and the training helps you deliver it better, that connection is strong.

It updates knowledge in a fast-moving field. Industries like technology, finance, marketing, health and safety, and regulated professions often require continuous learning to remain competitive or compliant.

It is required to maintain a licence, certification, or membership. If you must complete training to keep practising, it is easier to justify as a business cost.

It supports an existing revenue stream. If you can point to current clients, current contracts, or documented business plans showing how the training supports what you are already selling, you’re in stronger territory.

It is part of a continuing professional development pattern. Regular CPD aligned to your services often appears more like a normal running cost of a professional trade.

When training is more likely to be disallowed

Training is more likely to be challenged or disallowed when it looks like personal investment or a step toward a new trade. Common red flags include:

Foundational qualifications for a new profession. Degrees, diplomas, and entry-level professional qualifications that enable you to enter a new occupation often fall outside deductible training. The rationale is that you are building a new income-earning structure rather than maintaining the old one.

General self-improvement courses. Courses in confidence, motivation, public speaking, general management, or personal productivity can be valuable, but deductibility often depends on whether the content is specifically required and used in your current business rather than broadly beneficial to life and employment in general.

Training taken before the business starts trading. If you have not yet begun the trade and you take training to prepare for it, the costs may be treated differently (sometimes as pre-trading expenditure with special rules, sometimes disallowed, depending on the jurisdiction and facts).

Training with a significant private element. Retreats, lifestyle programmes, or courses that blend personal wellbeing, travel, and learning can be hard to justify unless you can clearly separate the business component and show it is dominant.

What about training that expands what you offer within the same business?

This is the “grey zone” that many business owners live in. You might be a photographer who wants to add videography, a bookkeeper who wants to add payroll services, or a personal trainer who wants to offer nutrition coaching. Is that a new trade, or an extension of the current one?

In practice, it depends on how closely related the new service is to your existing business, and whether it is viewed as part of the same trade or a separate profession. If the new capability is a natural progression from your current work and is integrated into your existing client base and business model, you may have a stronger argument that it’s training for your existing trade.

To strengthen your position, you can document how the training supports your current business activity. For example:

- Evidence that clients have requested the additional service.

- A business plan showing the new service as an add-on to current offerings.

- Marketing drafts or website updates that position it as an extension of the same brand.

- Proof that you are already doing related work and this training deepens it.

The more the training resembles a “bolt-on” enhancement to what you already do, the more defensible it tends to be. The more it resembles a shift into a different professional identity, the riskier it becomes.

Employee training vs. self-employed training

Employees sometimes have different rules than sole traders, partners, or company owners. Employers may be able to deduct training costs they provide to employees if the training is connected to the job. For employees personally claiming deductions (where that is permitted at all), the rules can be stricter, and many systems limit what employees can claim directly.

If you operate through a limited company, the company may pay for training that is relevant to your role and the company’s business. In those cases, the focus often shifts to whether the company is incurring the cost for business purposes and whether any personal benefit creates a taxable benefit-in-kind. The details vary by jurisdiction, but the practical takeaway is that structure matters: the same training might be treated differently depending on whether you are claiming as a sole trader or your company is paying for training for a director-employee.

Common types of training and how they are usually viewed

Here is how different kinds of training are typically evaluated. These are not guaranteed outcomes, but they illustrate how the principles apply.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

CPD that maintains or updates your knowledge in your existing trade is often the most straightforward category. Examples include annual refreshers, updated regulations training, professional ethics courses, and skills workshops that keep you current.

Short courses and workshops

Short courses can be deductible if they directly relate to your current business. An advanced Excel course might be allowable for someone whose business relies on data analysis, forecasting, or reporting, but harder to justify for a business where spreadsheets are incidental. The closer the link, the better.

Conferences and seminars

Industry conferences can be allowable where attendance has a clear business purpose: staying updated, networking with relevant partners, meeting suppliers, learning about industry changes. However, conferences can involve travel and social events, so you should keep records that show the business agenda and the relevance of the sessions you attended.

Coaching and mentoring

Business coaching is a tricky area. Coaching aimed at improving your performance in your existing trade—sales coaching for a salesperson, pricing strategy coaching for a consultant, operational coaching for a business owner—may be arguable. But coaching that is primarily personal (confidence, life coaching, general motivation) can be treated as private. The content, the contract, and the documented goals matter a lot here.

Professional qualifications, diplomas, and degrees

Formal qualifications are frequently challenged because they can be seen as creating a new earning capacity. A qualification that is required to do your current work or maintain your professional status may be more defensible than a qualification that enables you to enter a new profession. The fact that a qualification is “useful” to business does not always make it deductible; the question is whether it is incurred in the course of the current trade or to establish a new one.

Online subscriptions and training platforms

Subscriptions to platforms that provide training libraries or ongoing learning resources can be treated like other training costs: deductible when used for business-relevant learning. Keep evidence of business use and the relevance of the courses you actually took, especially if the platform offers broad content that includes personal interest topics.

Mixed-purpose training: when business and personal overlap

Many training purchases have mixed motives. You might take a leadership course partly to run your business better and partly for personal growth. You might attend a conference in a city you’ve always wanted to visit. You might join a membership programme that includes both technical content and general wellbeing modules.

Tax systems often deal with mixed-purpose expenses by disallowing costs that are not sufficiently business-related, or by allowing apportionment only when the business element is separable and measurable. This means that if the course is genuinely split into distinct components—some clearly business, some clearly personal—you may be able to claim the business portion. If the training is one integrated product where personal benefit is inseparable, the whole claim may be at risk.

If you are going to apportion, do it on a defensible basis. For example, allocate based on the separate listed price of modules if sold separately, or based on time spent if the course has clear divisions with separate content and learning outcomes. Avoid arbitrary percentages that you cannot justify with evidence.

Travel, accommodation, and subsistence for training

The cost of the training itself is only part of the picture. Many business owners incur travel and accommodation to attend training. These additional costs can be deductible when the training is deductible and the travel is wholly for that business purpose.

However, the moment you add a personal element—staying extra nights for a holiday, bringing family members, choosing luxury upgrades that are not business-driven—the claim becomes more complex. Often, you can still claim the portion that relates strictly to the business trip, but you should be ready to exclude private costs.

Practical examples of how this is commonly handled:

- If you travel to a course and return immediately after, the travel and necessary accommodation may be business-related.

- If you extend the trip for leisure, you may need to claim only the costs that would have been incurred for the business portion, excluding the incremental personal costs (extra nights, leisure activities, additional meals).

- If you bring a companion who is not involved in the business purpose, their incremental travel and accommodation costs are generally personal.

Keep agendas, booking confirmations, receipts, and notes that show the training schedule and why the travel was necessary. The clearer the separation, the safer the claim.

Equipment and materials used for training

Some training requires you to buy books, software, tools, or equipment. Whether you can claim these costs depends on how they are used after the course and how your tax system treats capital items.

Consumable materials (printing, course handouts, minor supplies) are often treated as revenue expenses. Larger purchases—like a laptop, camera, specialist tools, or expensive software licences—may be treated as capital expenditure, potentially deductible through allowances, depreciation rules, or specific tax relief mechanisms. If the equipment is used partly personally, you may need to apportion the claim or adjust for private use.

The key is to separate: the training fee is one thing, and the assets you buy are another. Keep invoices distinct where possible, and document business use.

Pre-trading training and start-up scenarios

Many people take training to prepare to start a business. For example, someone might train as a beauty therapist before opening a salon, or take coding bootcamps before launching a web development consultancy. Whether those training costs are deductible is highly dependent on local rules about pre-trading expenditure and whether training is considered part of “setting up” a trade rather than “running” one.

As a general principle, training undertaken to enable you to begin a trade is less likely to be treated as a normal running cost because there is no existing trade to which the training relates. Some systems allow certain pre-trading costs to be treated as incurred on the first day of trading, but even then training may be excluded if it is deemed to create a new skill base or a new income-earning capacity.

If you are in this situation, it is especially important to get advice based on your jurisdiction and the facts. The same course might be treated differently depending on whether you had already begun trading in a related capacity or whether the training is a necessary update for an existing business.

How to make your training expense claim more defensible

If you decide the training is claimable, your next job is to make sure you can support that position if questioned. Tax authorities and auditors are not inside your head; they rely on evidence. Here are practical steps that help.

1) Write down the business purpose before you book

A short note can be powerful. Capture what you expect the training to improve in your current business. For example: “Advanced course to improve client deliverables in X,” or “Compliance update required to keep practising in Y.” This shows intention and can counter the idea that it was personal.

2) Link the course content to your current services

Keep the syllabus, agenda, or course outline. Highlight the modules that align with your existing work. If you later update your services, pricing, or marketing based on the course, keep those records too.

3) Keep proof of payment and clear invoices

Ensure invoices are addressed to the correct business entity (you as a sole trader, your partnership, or your company). Keep receipts for any related travel and accommodation, and store them in your bookkeeping system.

4) Keep evidence of attendance and completion

Certificates, attendance logs, email confirmations, or platform completion records help demonstrate that the cost was incurred and that the training was actually undertaken.

5) Document how the training was used in the business

You do not need to write an essay, but a brief post-course note is useful: “Applied method A to project B,” “Updated client onboarding process,” “Introduced new compliance checklist,” “Improved turnaround time.” This ties the expense to business outcomes.

6) Be conservative with mixed-purpose costs

If there is any doubt about private benefit, consider whether to exclude part of the cost or avoid claiming borderline items. A conservative approach can reduce risk, especially if the amounts are not material.

Claiming training through a limited company: additional considerations

If your company pays for your training (as a director or employee), you should consider two questions: is the expense incurred for the company’s business purposes, and does it create a personal taxable benefit?

Training that is directly relevant to your duties and the company’s activities is more likely to be treated as an allowable business expense. But if the training is essentially personal or qualifies you for a new career path, the company’s deduction may be challenged and you may face benefit-in-kind implications depending on local rules.

The paperwork matters even more here: board minutes or internal approvals, course rationale, and invoices addressed to the company can help show that the expenditure is for business purposes.

What if the training includes certification or membership fees?

Some courses bundle exam fees, professional memberships, or subscription access. Each component may need separate consideration. Exam fees that are part of maintaining an existing professional status can be easier to justify than fees that grant entry into a new profession. Membership fees can be deductible when the membership is directly related to your trade and provides business value (industry accreditation, access to technical updates, professional standards), but less so when it is more like a general club or networking society without a clear trade link.

If you can get itemised invoices, that helps. If not, keep the course details that explain what is included and why it is relevant.

How to treat VAT/GST on training (where applicable)

If your jurisdiction has VAT or GST and you are registered, you may be able to recover input tax on training expenses that are used for business purposes. However, training providers may be exempt, zero-rated, or treated differently depending on the nature of the education and local rules. Additionally, if the training has mixed business and personal use, input tax recovery may be restricted.

Because VAT/GST treatment can be highly specific, it is wise to keep the invoice details and confirm whether tax was charged and whether recovery is permitted in your circumstances. Even when the training is deductible for income tax purposes, VAT/GST recovery can follow different rules.

Examples to help you decide: is this training claimable?

Let’s walk through practical scenarios that mirror real-world decisions. These examples show how the same “skills improvement” idea can lead to different outcomes.

Example 1: A consultant takes an advanced negotiation course

A self-employed commercial consultant regularly negotiates contracts for clients and bills for advisory time. They take an advanced negotiation course aimed at improving outcomes in contract discussions. This is tightly connected to existing work and likely to be argued as an allowable business expense, assuming the course is not primarily personal development.

Example 2: A hairdresser takes a new colouring technique workshop

A hairdresser is already trading and offering colouring services. They attend a workshop on a new colouring technique trending in their industry. This looks like an update and enhancement within the same trade and is often closer to an allowable expense.

Example 3: A bookkeeper trains to become a qualified accountant

A bookkeeper takes a multi-year qualification that enables them to become a chartered accountant. Even though the skills overlap, the qualification may be viewed as creating a new professional status and a new income-earning capacity. The claim is more likely to be challenged, particularly if the bookkeeper’s current trade does not require the qualification and the purpose is to enter a higher-status profession.

Example 4: A fitness coach takes a mindfulness retreat with some coaching modules

A coach attends a retreat that includes mindfulness sessions, personal wellbeing activities, and a small business coaching component. Even if they believe it will help them serve clients, the personal element may be inseparable. Unless the business component is clearly separated, itemised, and dominant, the expense is high risk.

Example 5: A software developer takes a course on a new programming framework

A developer already provides software development services and takes a course in a new framework that clients are requesting. This is a strong example of training within the same trade that improves delivery and is commonly claimed.

Example 6: A marketer takes a course to become a qualified electrician “to diversify”

This is a new trade. Even if the intention is to diversify business income, the training is not for the existing marketing trade. It is unlikely to be deductible against current marketing income.

How to decide in your own case: a simple decision framework

When you are stuck, use these questions as a checklist. The more “yes” answers you have on the business side, the more defensible the claim tends to be.

1) Would you still take this training if you were not running your current business? If yes, that suggests personal motivation. If no, it leans business.

2) Does the training maintain or improve skills you already use to earn income today? If yes, stronger. If it prepares you for a different line of work, weaker.

3) Is it required by regulation, clients, or professional standards? Required training is often easier to justify.

4) Can you point to specific business activities that the course supports? Existing clients, services, deliverables, compliance needs—these help.

5) Is the private benefit incidental rather than substantial? Most business expenses have some incidental personal benefit. The question is whether the business purpose is dominant and clear.

What to do if you’re unsure: risk management and practical options

If you are not confident whether a course is deductible, you have a few practical options:

Take professional advice for the specific facts. A short consultation can be cheaper than getting it wrong, especially for larger training programmes.

Claim only the clearly business-related components. If the course bundle includes business modules and personal modules, consider claiming the business portion if it can be justified and evidenced.

Be conservative and don’t claim borderline costs. Sometimes the simplest way to reduce stress is to treat a grey-zone expense as non-deductible, particularly if it is small.

Improve documentation. Many disputes are not about whether training could ever be deductible, but about whether the taxpayer can show the business purpose and relevance.

Frequently misunderstood points

“It helped my business” is not the same as “it was incurred for my business.” Many personal expenses can indirectly help business performance, but deductibility usually depends on the primary purpose at the time you incurred the expense.

“It’s educational” does not automatically make it deductible. Education can be personal, capital, or business-related. The nature of what it does for your trade is what matters.

“I’m self-employed, so everything is a business expense” is a myth. Self-employment does not remove the requirement that expenses be business-related and not private.

One person’s allowable claim is not proof for another person. Two people can take the same course with different contexts. For one, it may maintain an existing trade; for another, it may create a new trade. Your facts matter.

Recordkeeping checklist for training expense claims

If you want a practical list to follow, keep the following in your records folder:

- Course description, syllabus, agenda, or programme outline.

- Proof of registration and attendance/completion.

- Invoice addressed to your business (or company) and proof of payment.

- A brief written note of the business purpose (before booking) and how it was used (after completion).

- Evidence of relevance: client requests, compliance requirements, business plan extracts, service descriptions, marketing updates.

- For travel: receipts, itinerary, and the training schedule to show the business purpose of the trip.

- For mixed-purpose: your calculation and evidence supporting any apportionment.

Conclusion: can you claim training that improves your skills?

Yes, you often can claim training expenses when the training improves skills you already use in your existing business and the cost is incurred for business purposes. The strongest claims are for training that updates, maintains, or deepens expertise within your current trade—particularly where it aligns with ongoing client work, professional standards, or regulatory needs.

Training is more likely to be disallowed when it qualifies you for a new profession, creates a new income-earning capacity, or is primarily personal development, even if you believe it will make you a better business owner overall. The biggest practical difference between a smooth claim and a painful dispute is usually documentation: keep clear evidence of the business purpose, the content, and how it connects to your current income-generating activities.

If your training sits in the grey zone—expanding your services, blending personal and business benefit, or occurring before you start trading—treat it with extra care. Consider professional advice, separate and apportion where genuinely possible, and keep records that show your reasoning. With the right approach, training can be both a smart investment in your business and, where the rules allow, a legitimate deductible expense.