Books, magazines and publications – can your limited company pay?

If you buy books, magazines or other publications for your work, your limited company can usually claim the cost, as long as the expenditure genuinely serves and benefits your business.

This might include a technical manual you need for your contract work, reference material, a trade journal, or access to a specialist online publication or database.

Michael McCullion, MD of BI Accountancy, explains more.

Can your company claim the cost of books and publications?

As with other limited company expenses, the golden rule to satisfy is to show that the expenditure is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business.

You can usually claim for technical reading material you need for your work. And, unsurprisingly, if you buy something simply because you have a personal interest in the subject, it’s unlikely to pass this test.

The same rules apply whether you buy a printed book, an ebook or take out an online subscription.

Technical and professional books

Your company can usually claim for technical books and reference material which you use in its work.

For an IT contractor, this could be a book on a programming language or platform you’re using, or reference material you need for a particular contract. Books on project management, business analysis and other areas related to your work can also qualify.

The same applies to contractors in other fields who buy technical or professional reference material they need to do their work.

In each case, the company is buying the material for use in its existing business.

What about books for learning new skills?

Your company can generally claim for books and learning material used to update or improve skills you already use in the business.

For example, you might buy a book to get up to speed with a new version of software you already use in your work. That’s different from buying material to learn a completely new skill which has nothing to do with your company’s current activities.

The same issue arises with courses and other forms of professional development, which we cover in our guide to claiming training costs through your limited company.

Trade magazines and industry journals

Your company can pay for trade magazines, professional journals and specialist publications that you use for work.

For example, an IT contractor might subscribe to a technical journal or industry publication to keep up with new technology, security issues or regulatory changes. It doesn’t need to relate to a particular contract – it can simply be something you regularly use to keep your professional knowledge up to date.

Can your company pay for newspapers?

A normal newspaper subscription won’t usually qualify simply because you read its business pages or occasionally find articles relevant to your work.

If you buy a newspaper for general reading, you wouldn’t normally put the cost through your company just because some of the coverage is relevant to your work.

It may be different if keeping up with the news is part of what you do. Someone working in financial markets or public affairs, for example, might need access to a particular newspaper or news service for their work.

In these circumstances, you should be able to show why the company needs the subscription for its work.

Online publications and digital subscriptions

The same rules apply when you access the material online.

Your company might pay for a specialist news service, a technical website, a digital journal, or another subscription that provides the information needed for your work. It doesn’t matter whether you receive a physical publication, access it on a website, or read it in an app.

If a digital subscription includes a mixture of business and general content, consider why you took out the subscription and whether there is also a personal purpose behind it.

Research services and specialist databases

Some contractors and consultants also pay for information services which go beyond conventional books and magazines.

Depending on the type of work your company carries out, this could include technical databases, market research, legal or regulatory resources, industry data, standards or specialist reference services.

Some specialist research services and databases can cost hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year.

The purpose of the expenditure is what’s important, not the size of the claim.

What if a publication has both business and personal use?

A publication which you buy for both business and personal reasons can fall foul of the wholly and exclusively rule.

For example, buying a specialist technical manual solely for contract work has a clear business purpose. If you subscribe to a general newspaper because you enjoy reading it but also use some of its content for work, there is a personal purpose as well.

Our guide to dual-purpose expenses for limited company directors explains how HMRC treats costs which have more than one purpose.

Professional memberships and subscriptions

A subscription to a publication isn’t the same as paying a membership fee to a professional body or trade organisation.

If your company pays for membership of an organisation such as the BCS or IET, the rules for professional subscriptions apply instead. Your company can pay qualifying membership fees when incurred wholly and exclusively for its business.

We cover this separately in our guide to professional subscriptions and membership fees.

Some final points

Keep the receipts for any books you buy, and invoices or payment records for ongoing subscriptions.

For specialist material, the connection with your work may be obvious from the title or description. For anything less obvious, keep a brief note in your accounting software of what the company bought it for in case the expense is queried later.

If a purchase is borderline and not intuitively work-related, it’s worth checking with your accountant before putting it through the company.