Can I claim books and reference materials as a sole trader?

Yes — books, journals, magazines, and reference materials used wholly for your business are allowable expenses. The cost must be incurred for business purposes, not general personal interest. Clearly allowable: professional reference books for your trade (legal textbooks, accounting standards, medical references, technical manuals), industry trade journals, specialist publications used in your work. Not allowable: general interest books on topics related to your work but read for personal enjoyment, fiction, lifestyle books. For ebooks and digital publications: same rules apply — the format doesn't matter, the purpose does. If you subscribe to a digital library service (e.g. O'Reilly for tech, JSTOR for academics) for business research, this is similarly deductible.

  • Professional reference books and trade journals: fully deductible
  • Industry magazines and technical publications: allowable
  • General interest books (even vaguely work-related): not allowable
  • Digital publications and ebook subscriptions: same rules apply
  • Claim under 'Books, journals and subscriptions' or 'Other expenses' on SA103

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