Running Your Nail Business as a Sole Trader: What You Can Legitimately Pay For Through Your Business

When you're a sole trader, there's no neat line between "you" and "your business" — you are the business. That sounds scary, but it's actually one of the biggest advantages you have. It means almost anything you genuinely need to spend money on to run your nail business can be paid for through the business, and every legitimate pound you claim reduces the profit you pay tax on.

The trick is shifting how you think about it. Too many nail techs treat their business like a hobby that happens to bring in money, paying for supplies out of their personal bank account and only "claiming" the obvious things. A high-street salon owner would never do that — they'd pay for everything the salon needs from the salon's account, because the salon couldn't function without it. Your home salon is no different.

Here's how to think about it properly, and what you can legitimately run through your nail business.

The golden rule: if your business needs it, it's a business expense

This is the mindset shift that changes everything. Ask yourself one question: could I run my nail business without this?

If the answer is no, it's a business expense.

A high-street salon has to pay for its electricity, its heating, its phone line, its insurance, its cleaning, its water — because without those things, the salon can't open. If your salon is your home, the same logic applies. The fact that you also live there doesn't make those costs personal — it just means you share them between personal and business use, and you claim the business portion.

That word — portion — is the key. You don't claim your whole electric bill. You claim the percentage that relates to your business. But you do claim it, because without electricity your lamps don't turn on, your heater doesn't warm your clients, and you can't work.

Your mobile phone — yes, claim a percentage

This is one of the most missed expenses, and it's a perfect example.

If you use your mobile to text clients about appointments, take booking calls, message on Instagram and WhatsApp, photograph nails for your portfolio, run your social media, and Google product suppliers — that phone is a business tool. It's also your personal phone, so you don't claim the whole bill. You claim a sensible percentage.

A common approach is to estimate how much of your usage is business — say 30%, 50%, 70% — and claim that percentage of your monthly phone bill as a business expense. Keep it honest and defensible. If your bill is £40 a month and you reckon half is business, you claim £20 a month, or £240 a year, as a legitimate expense. Over a year that's real money off your taxable profit.

The same applies to your phone itself if you bought it partly for business use, and to any apps or subscriptions you pay for to run your business — scheduling apps, design tools, your accounting software, this very planner.

Home electricity, heating and water — the "use of home" expenses

This is where the high-street salon comparison really lands.

If a salon rents a unit, it pays the electricity for that unit in full, through the business. If your salon is a room in your home, the electricity bill arrives in your name — but the lamps you use for 8 hours a day, the heater that keeps your clients warm, the kettle boiling for their tea, the hot water for your soak-off bowls… all of that is business electricity.

So you work out the business portion and claim it. There are two common ways:

• A flat simplified rate for use of home (HMRC offers simplified expenses for this — a set monthly amount depending on how many hours you work from home each month).
• A percentage of your actual bills, based on the number of rooms used for business or the floor area of your work space compared to your whole home.

Either way, the point is the same: if your home didn't have electricity, you'd have to get electricity for your business and pay for it through the business. That's exactly what a high-street salon does. You're not getting away with anything — you're doing what every salon owner does, just from a different building.

Heating and water follow the same logic. If you heat your home salon for clients, that's business heating. If you run hot water constantly for treatments, that's business water.

The obvious ones you're probably already claiming

Make sure you're not missing the bread-and-butter expenses every nail business has:

• Products and supplies — gel, acrylic, tips, files, liquids, wipes, gloves, Foil, lint-free wipes. All of it.
• Equipment and tools — lamps, e-files, drills, brushes, tweezers, a new treatment table, a client chair.
• Training and courses — every course you take to add a new service or keep your skills current is a business expense, including travel to courses.
• Insurance — your public liability and professional treatment insurance. Essential, and fully claimable.
• Marketing — business cards, leaflets, paid social media ads, a website, domain names.
• PPE and hygiene — masks, gloves, sanitiser, autoclave bags, barrier rolls.
• Professional fees — your accountant, your software subscriptions, your professional body membership.

The ones people forget

• A percentage of your internet bill — if you run your booking system, Instagram, and online orders from home, your broadband is partly a business expense.
• Cleaning and laundry — towels washed, salon-grade cleaning products, laundry detergent for your client towels.
• Mileage or fuel — if you're a mobile tech travelling to clients, or you drive to collect supplies, claim the mileage. Keep a log.
• Bank and payment fees — Stripe fees, card machine fees, business bank account fees.
• A portion of your rent or mortgage interest — if you have a dedicated room used only for your business, you may be able to claim a percentage of the rent (or mortgage interest, not the repayment) plus council tax. This one is worth talking to an accountant about, because the rules are specific and there can be capital gains considerations when you sell.

How to actually do it without the headache

1. Open a separate business bank account. Even as a sole trader, you don't need a fancy business account — a second current account works. Pay all your business income in and all your business expenses out of it. This alone makes everything ten times easier.
2. Log everything as you go. Don't leave it to the end of the year. The Expenses tab in your planner exists for exactly this — record each expense, categorise it, and let it feed straight into your profit figures.
3. Be honest and consistent. Claiming a genuine 30% of your phone bill is smart and legitimate. Claiming 100% when everyone who knows you calls you on it is not. The test is always: could I justify this if asked?
4. Keep receipts. Digital is fine — photograph them, save them in one folder. HMRC may ask to see them.

The bottom line

Your nail business is a real business. It needs electricity, a phone, products, insurance, training, and a warm room — exactly like a high-street salon. The only difference is that some of those bills arrive in your personal name because you work from home.

So think like a salon owner. Pay for what the business needs through the business. Claim the fair portion. Keep good records. And watch your real profit picture come into focus — because once you can see what your business genuinely costs to run, you can finally price your services to actually pay yourself.

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A note on the boring-but-important stuff: this guide explains the kinds of expenses sole traders commonly claim, but tax rules change and everyone's situation is different. Keep solid records, use the simplified expenses where they suit you, and for anything sizeable or unusual — especially around use of home, rent, and mortgage interest — have a quick chat with an accountant. A good one will save you far more than they cost.