Travel Expenses for Self-Employed Musicians: What’s Allowable and What’s Not

One of the most common areas of confusion for self-employed musicians is travel expenses - specifically, when travel costs can (and cannot) be claimed on a Self Assessment tax return.

This guide explains how travel expenses are treated for freelance musicians in the UK, using the same principles that tax inspectors apply in practice. Understanding these rules can help you claim correctly, avoid errors, and feel more confident about what you include in your return.

The starting point: home-to-work travel is not allowable

As a general rule, travel from home to work is not an allowable tax deduction.

This applies whether you are employed or self-employed. In simple terms, commuting is considered a personal cost rather than a business expense. For example:

• An employee cannot claim the cost of travelling from home to their workplace

• A shopkeeper cannot claim the cost of travelling from home to their shop

• 
  

The same principle applies to self-employed musicians - unless specific conditions are met.

When your home is also your place of work

Many self-employed musicians work from home. This might include:

• practising

• teaching

• administrative work

• preparing for performances

In these cases, your home may be recognised as your base of operations.

This distinction matters. If your home is genuinely a place where work is carried out, travel from that base to another workplace may be treated differently from ordinary commuting.

Itinerant work and temporary workplaces

Tax guidance recognises that some self-employed individuals are itinerant workers. This means their work involves travelling to temporary workplaces rather than attending a single permanent location.

For musicians, this could include travelling from home to:

• rehearsals

• concert venues

• recording sessions

• short-term engagements

Where the work is temporary and itinerant in nature, travel from your base of operations (your home) to that temporary workplace may be allowable.

This is a crucial point for freelance musicians whose work patterns are varied and location-based.

What does “itinerant” actually mean?

The key issue is whether the travel forms part of your normal pattern of work.

If you regularly and consistently travel to the same location over a long period, that journey may start to look less like itinerant travel and more like ordinary home-to-work travel.

In other words:

• Occasional or varied destinations are more likely to be considered itinerant

• Regular, predictable journeys to the same place may not qualify

This distinction is one of the most common reasons travel expenses are challenged or disallowed.

Why regular journeys can cause problems

There have been tax cases where a self-employed individual worked from home but travelled frequently to the same locations. Even though the home was accepted as a base of operations, the regularity of the journeys meant the travel was treated as home-to-work commuting, not business travel.

For musicians, this can arise where someone:

• attends the same rehearsal space or venue repeatedly

• teaches regularly at the same institution

• has ongoing engagements at a single location

In these situations, the travel may no longer meet the definition of itinerant.

How HMRC assess travel expenses in practice

When reviewing travel claims, HMRC will typically look at:

• whether your home is genuinely a place of work

• whether the destination is temporary or permanent

• how regularly you travel to the same location

• whether the travel forms part of a normal, repeated pattern

There is no single test that applies in all cases. Context and working patterns matter.

Key takeaways for self-employed musicians

When deciding whether travel expenses are allowable, keep these three points in mind:

1. Home-to-work travel is not allowable

2. Your home may be a base of operations if you genuinely work there

3. Itinerant, temporary work may allow travel to be claimed - but regularity matters

If your working pattern changes over time, the tax treatment of your travel may also change.

Final thoughts

Travel expenses are an area where musicians often make honest mistakes - either by claiming too much or by not claiming what they’re entitled to.

Understanding how itinerant work is defined, and how regular journeys are viewed, is essential to getting this right.

If you’re unsure how these rules apply to your own situation, professional advice can help ensure your Self Assessment return reflects your work accurately and compliantly.