Can I claim a hotel stay?

For UK sole traders. Checked against gov.uk on 8 July 2026.

Yes, on a business trip.

Hotel rooms on overnight business trips away from your normal base are claimable, meals on the trip included.

HMRC's own wording for the travel box includes "hotel room costs and meals on overnight business trips". Working away from your normal base and staying over: the room is a business expense, and so are the evening meal and the breakfast that come with being away.

The line to watch is the reason for the trip. A job in another city, a trade show, a course keeping your skills current: business. A family break with a work email answered by the pool is personal, and personal nights aren't claimable. Genuinely mixed trips get split: business nights in, personal nights out.

Quick answers

Meals during the stay?
Yes. Meals on overnight business trips sit in the same box as the room. An ordinary lunch on a normal working day is different: not claimable.

A week near a distant job?
If the trip is for the business and away from your normal base, the nights are claimable. Keep the booking and the job it relates to together in your records.

What box does it go in?
Box 20, car, van and travel expenses, on the self-employment pages of the return.

Compliance first.Every figure checked verbatim against gov.uk, with the date on the page

Registered in the UK.SOLETAX LTD, Companies House 17318329

Your records stay yours.Export any time. Delete permanently, any time

Simple pricing.14 days free, no card. No ads, never selling your data

Every claim, caught automatically

Snap the receipt and SoleTax files it under the right HMRC category, flags what isn't claimable, and keeps the tax number running. 14 days free, no card needed.

Join the beta

Sources: HMRC's SA103F Notes 2026 (Box 20) and the Business Income Manual (BIM45000). Checked on 8 July 2026.