Can I claim a gym membership?
Staying fit has a personal purpose, and dual-purpose costs fail the test entirely. Even for personal trainers.
The test is wholly and exclusively for the trade. A gym membership keeps you healthy, and health is personal by nature: you'd want your body working whether or not you traded. HMRC's manual draws the line hard: if one of the reasons for an expense isn't business, it fails entirely, and intrinsically dual-purpose costs get no business proportion.
This catches personal trainers hardest, and the answer still doesn't move. Your fitness sells sessions, and it also keeps you alive: the personal purpose is inseparable. What is different is paying for space to work. Renting studio floor time or hiring facilities to train your clients in is a cost of delivering the job, and claimable.
Quick answers
I'm a personal trainer. My body is the business.
The rule looks at purpose, not job title. Fitness always carries a personal purpose, so the membership fails. The rent you pay a gym to train clients there is a different expense, and claimable.
Courses and qualifications instead?
Training that keeps existing skills current for your trade is claimable. Training to start something new isn't.
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 betaSources: HMRC's Business Income Manual (BIM37007, wholly and exclusively) and the SA103F Notes 2026. Checked on 8 July 2026.