Often, yes. HMRC’s guidance allows some business costs paid before you started trading to be treated as expenses of the business, as long as they were paid within seven years before the trade began and would have counted as a business expense if you’d already been trading. Storage for stock, equipment or materials you were getting ready to sell is the kind of cost this can cover. Your accountant can confirm how it applies to you.
What HMRC’s guidance says
HMRC’s Business Income Manual covers pre-trading expenditure. In short, a cost can count if:
- it was incurred within seven years before the business started;
- it’s a day-to-day running cost rather than buying an asset;
- it was “wholly and exclusively” for the business;
- it would have been allowable if you had already been trading.
There are exceptions, such as advance purchases of stock, so it’s worth checking the detail with your accountant, especially if you’re setting up a limited company.
Keeping the paperwork right
- Keep every invoice. We email your invoice 5 to 7 days before each four-weekly payment, with the full details of the charge, so you’ll have a record of every payment from the start.
- Keep it business-only. If the unit holds only business stock or equipment, the cost is easier to show as a business expense than if household things are in there too.
- VAT. If you’ll be VAT-registered and want to reclaim VAT, call us before you book and we’ll tell you what your invoices will show.
Getting started with a unit
A business storage unit suits a business that’s just starting: there’s no long lease, no business rates to pay on an indoor unit, and the minimum stay is just two weeks. After that your storage carries on until you give notice, normally 14 days, so it can grow with the business. You can move to a bigger unit when one is free, and you can pick and pack your own orders at the unit between 6am and 10pm, seven days a week.
To find the right size, call us on 0800 2545585, or get a price online.
Related questions
- Do you provide VAT invoices for business storage?
- Do I pay business rates on a storage unit?
- Can I sort and pack orders inside my storage unit?
- What’s the difference between business and personal storage units?
This page summarises HMRC’s general guidance. It isn’t tax advice.
Further reading