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If you are self employed you should be looking into all your possible tax breaks to be saving during these tough times.

Because you are your own employer, and run your business yourself, you should be getting all your expenses, tax-free.

But what are the expenses you can claim back? It’s anything that you have to spend to make your business work. Like your car – if you use your car half of the week, then you can claim half of your running costs back. That’s half of the taxes on petrol, maintenance and repairs saved.

Also, if you need to buy anything for your office, then that could tax deductible. So are expenses for meetings, clothing, trips and promotional material – anything that you spend purely for your business, you may be able to deduct. Of course, there is always a fine line between what you can and what you cannot deduct, so always consult your accountant.

One problem may lie in trying to offset mortgage costs. This can lead to complications regarding capital gains tax when it comes to sell your home. If you have offset mortgage payments, you will need to prove that you home was lived in as well as worked in.

And with all this money saved, it might make things easier. Debts might become more manageable, your self employed mortgage may become less of a burden and you might find that your business becomes that bit more profitable.

Keep up with the latest news and comments on Self Employed Mortgages at the Self Cert Mortgage Blog