If your creative work takes you away from home for a night or two – maybe you're filming on location, attending an industry event or working a festival – you might already know you can claim back your travel and accommodation costs.
But there’s one lesser-known allowance that often gets overlooked: incidental overnight expenses.
They’re the small, personal costs you might rack up just because you’re staying overnight somewhere for work. Think:
The sort of costs you wouldn’t normally have if you were working from home or your usual studio.
If you’re an employee or company director (so you’re working through a limited company) HMRC lets your company pay you a tax-free allowance to cover these little expenses – without needing receipts.
The current limits are:
That’s a flat amount you can be paid, even if you didn’t actually spend it all
✅ Example: You travel from London to Manchester for a shoot, stay overnight in a hotel, and your company pays you £5 for incidental expenses. You don’t need to keep any receipts – the payment is tax-free and doesn’t need to go through payroll.
There are just a few simple rules:
If your company pays more than the limit and doesn’t claw the excess back, you’ll be taxed on the full amount. So if you're going to use this allowance, stick to the official figures.
Not in the same way. If you’re self-employed, you need to claim the actual costs you incur – so you do need receipts. You can’t just add £5 a night to your records unless you really spent it and can back it up.
It’s a nice little tax-free top-up. Let’s say you’re away five nights a month for different shoots, gigs or exhibitions. That’s £25 a month your company can pay you without tax or National Insurance. Over a year, it adds up.
If you’ve got employees who travel for work, you can include this allowance in your travel policy. Just make sure you document it properly and don’t go over the limits.
| Situation | Can you claim the allowance? |
|---|---|
| Director of a limited company, staying overnight for work | ✅ Yes – up to £5 UK / £10 abroad, tax-free, no receipts needed |
| Sole trader, staying overnight | ❌ No – must claim actual expenses with receipts |
| Paid more than £5/£10 per night? | ⚠️ Yes, but the whole amount becomes taxable unless you repay the excess |
If you regularly travel for creative work, this is a super-easy win. You don’t need to jump through hoops or collect tiny receipts – just get your business to pay you the fixed allowance. Every little helps, especially when you’re running a business in the arts.
Why not book a meeting with us to discuss your circumstances and see how we can help.