We pride ourselves on being the best accountant Melton Mowbray has to offer. The question we get asked the most is, how do we pay less tax? If you are not currently staying on top of all possible tax deductions you may be overpaying. Here are our top 10 tax deductions to reduce your tax bill:

1. Home offices

If you work from home and use a room as an office, you can work out the percentage of space used and the business can then pay for its portion of your home costs.

2. Cars

If you use your car for business purposes, the allowance is 45p per mile, alongside claiming for car parking and toll roads. If you do not have a car you can also claim for travel costs via public transport.

3. Equipment

Anything you need to purchase to carry out the duties of your line of work is a business expense, this includes: laptops, printers, software and office furniture.

4. Refreshments

If you are away from your usual place of business to work, you can claim for your meals and drinks.

5. Uniform

If you require specialist clothing which cannot be worn for personal use or business branded clothing, this is a business expense.

6. Costs

If your business has to pay costs for bank accounts, membership fees, training costs and subscriptions you can offset these against your tax bill.

7. Christmas party

If you regularly hold a Christmas party, you can allow a cost of up to £150 per employee.

8. Pay early

If you are able to pay your tax bill early, HMRC will pay you some of the amount back in the form of interest.

9. Employ family

The personal allowance of £11,000 tax free income could be utilised to the benefit of your business if family members can carry out work related duties.

10. Pay professionals

If you are currently trying to perform many different roles, hire people to do it for you. Employees are a business expense and they could help you make more money.