Can you claim business travel as a freelancer? Flights, trains, hotels and overnight trips, trips mixed with a holiday and where they go under the IRS, HMRC and CRA rules (US, UK, Canada)

A flight to meet a client, a train to a workshop in another city, a few nights in a hotel near a project: travel can be one of the bigger costs a freelancer has in a year. Here's what the IRS, HMRC and the CRA say about claiming fares and hotels when you travel for work, what counts as being away from home, what happens when a trip is partly a holiday or runs for a long time, where the costs go on each return, and what to keep.

General information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Not written or reviewed by a lawyer or an accountant. The short answer, the side-by-side summary, the steps, the checklist, the wording to copy and all the other wording are ours; the official items come from the US, UK and Canadian government pages linked below. This page is about a self-employed person (a sole proprietor or sole trader) paying for their own business trips away from home. It doesn't tell you whether a particular trip counts, what share of a trip is business, or which line or box applies to you, and it doesn't cover car and van costs (see our mileage logs), meal limits (see our meals guide), courses and conferences (see our training guide), moving home or living abroad, travel outside your own country in detail, set daily allowances, employees, companies, VAT, GST/HST or sales tax on travel, US states, Canadian provinces, Quebec, or other countries. Rules change; check the current official pages before you claim. Official pages were read on 2026-10-20.

The short answer

1. US: "For tax purposes, travel expenses are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business, profession, or job." The travel line on the business schedule is for "Enter your expenses for lodging and transportation connected with overnight travel for business while away from your tax home." See sections one and two.
2. UK: GOV.UK lists "train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares" and "hotel rooms" among the travel costs you can claim, and it says you can't claim "travel between home and work"; see sections three and four.
3. Canada: the CRA says "You can deduct travel expenses you incur to earn business and professional income." Its list of travel expenses starts with "public transportation fares" and "hotel accommodations"; see sections five and six.
4. Trip mixed with a holiday? The IRS lets you claim the travel there and back on a trip that was mainly for business, but HMRC's manual says travel with a dual purpose is disallowable, and the CRA pages we read don't say; see "Where the sources differ".
5. Meals and driving? Meals on a trip have their own limits in the US and Canada, covered in our meals guide; driving goes in your mileage log.

On this page

• 1. United States: travelling away from home
• 2. United States: what you can deduct and where it goes
• 3. United Kingdom: travel costs you can claim
• 4. United Kingdom: overnight stays, mixed trips and the return
• 5. Canada: travel expenses
• 6. Canada: the guide and what the pages don't say
• 7. Side by side
• 8. Step by step
• 9. Wording to copy
• 10. Checklist
• Free tools and kits
• Where the sources differ
• When to get advice
• Related
• Sources

1. United States: travelling away from home

• Travel expenses: "For tax purposes, travel expenses are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business, profession, or job."
• Away from home: "You are traveling away from home if:"
  • Your duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home (defined later) substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, and
  • You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.
  "This rest requirement isn’t satisfied by merely napping in your car."
• Your tax home: "Generally, your tax home is your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. It includes the entire city or general area in which your business or work is located." "As an itinerant, you can’t claim a travel expense deduction because you are never considered to be traveling away from home."
• Long stays: "If your assignment or job away from your main place of work is temporary, your tax home doesn’t change." "However, if your assignment or job is indefinite, the location of the assignment or job becomes your new tax home and you can’t deduct your travel expenses while there." (IRS: Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, page date 30-Apr-2026). The IRS topic page adds: "Any work assignment in excess of one year is considered indefinite." (IRS: Topic no. 511, Business travel expenses, page date 09-Oct-2026).

Our reading: for most freelancers who work from home or a studio, the tax home is the area around it, so a day trip back the same evening isn't travel away from home under these rules; driving on that day belongs in our US mileage log.

2. United States: what you can deduct and where it goes

• The rule: "You can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses you have when you travel away from home on business." The publication's Table 1-1. Travel Expenses You Can Deduct includes, for transportation, "travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination." "If you were provided with a free ticket or you are riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero." and, for lodging and meals, "your lodging and non-entertainment-related meals if your business trip is overnight or long enough that you need to stop for sleep or rest to properly perform your duties."
• Hotel bills with meals: "You must have a reasonable basis for making this allocation. For example, you must allocate your expenses if a hotel includes one or more meals in its room charge."
• Meals: "You can deduct a portion of the cost of meals if it is necessary for you to stop for substantial sleep or rest to properly perform your duties while traveling away from home on business." The limits are in our meals guide.
• Someone travelling with you: "If a spouse, dependent, or other individual goes with you (or your employee) on a business trip or to a business convention, you generally can’t deduct their travel expenses."
• Mainly business: "If your trip was primarily for business and, while at your business destination, you extended your stay for a vacation, made a personal side trip, or had other personal activities, you can deduct only your business-related travel expenses." "These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination."
• Mainly personal: "If your trip was primarily for personal reasons, such as a vacation, the entire cost of the trip is a nondeductible personal expense." "However, you can deduct any expenses you have while at your destination that are directly related to your business."
• Outside the United States: "If any part of your business travel is outside the United States, some of your deductions for the cost of getting to and from your destination may be limited."
• Records: "You can use a log, diary, notebook, or any other written record to keep track of your expenses." (IRS: Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Where it goes: "If you're self-employed, you can deduct travel expenses on Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (Sole Proprietorship), or if you're a farmer, on Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming." (IRS: Topic no. 511, Business travel expenses, page date 09-Oct-2026). Under Line 24a the instructions say "Enter your expenses for lodging and transportation connected with overnight travel for business while away from your tax home." "In most cases, your tax home is your main place of business, regardless of where you maintain your family home." "Do not include expenses for meals on this line." (IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026).

For the schedule itself, see the expense categories in our Schedule C guide; for travel to a course or conference, see our training costs guide.

3. United Kingdom: travel costs you can claim

• Running costs: "If you’re self-employed, you can only claim for costs related to business purchases, including:" The list includes "travel costs, for example fuel, parking, train or bus fares"
• Business and personal use: "You can only claim allowable expenses for the business costs." (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08).
• Car, van and travel expenses: "If you’re self-employed - a sole trader or individual in a business partnership - you can claim allowable business expenses for costs such as:" After the vehicle costs, the list ends with
  • train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares
  • hotel rooms
  • meals on overnight business trips
  "You cannot claim for:"
  • non-business driving or travel costs
  • fines or penalty charges
  • travel between home and work
  "If you’re not sure whether a business cost is an allowable expense contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)." (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, car, van and travel expenses, page date 2024-11-08).

The vehicle costs at the top of that list, and the flat rate per mile, are covered in our UK mileage log.

4. United Kingdom: overnight stays, mixed trips and the return

• Nights away: "Where a business trip by a trader necessitates one or more nights away from home, the hotel accommodation and reasonable costs of overnight subsistence are deductible." "This does not extend to overnight accommodation and subsistence at the base of trade operations, even if there is a contractual requirement for the trader to reside in a particular place." "The reasonable costs of meals taken in conjunction with overnight accommodation are allowable, whether or not paid on the same bill." (HMRC: BIM47705 - Specific deductions - travel and subsistence: expenditure on meals and accommodation, page date 2018-11-27).
• A trip that is partly a holiday: "Where you establish duality of purpose in travel, the costs are disallowable." "No part of the expenditure is referable wholly and exclusively to the trade, profession or vocation." (HMRC: BIM37610 - Wholly and exclusively: duality of, or non-trade, purpose: travel costs: overseas conference plus holiday, page date 2021-11-22).
• On the return: the notes for the full self-employment pages say, under Box 20 Car, van and travel expenses, "This includes car and van insurance, repairs, servicing, fuel, parking, hire charges, vehicle licence fees, motoring organisation membership, train, bus, air and taxi fares, hotel room costs and meals on overnight business trips." "Non-business (private) motoring costs, fines, costs of buying vehicles, restricted lease rental expenses, travel costs between home and business, and other meals are disallowable expenses." (HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes, Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF).

The manual is HMRC's internal guidance for its own staff. If you use the short pages or give one total for expenses, the boxes are different; our UK Self Assessment guide shows the expense boxes on both versions. Your own meals on a trip are also covered in our meals guide.

5. Canada: travel expenses

• The general rule: "Generally, you can deduct any reasonable current expense you incur to earn business income." "However, since you cannot deduct personal expenses, enter only the business part of expenses on the Form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities." (CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31).
• Line 9200 – Travel expenses: "You can deduct travel expenses you incur to earn business and professional income." "Travel expenses include:"
  • public transportation fares
  • hotel accommodations
  • meals
  The page then points to the meals and entertainment line for a limit on meals when you travel (CRA: Line 9200 – Travel expenses, page date 2026-08-31); that limit is covered in our meals guide.

The expense lines sit in the expenses part of your statement of business or professional activities: see our guide for Canadian freelancers. Driving has its own line and is covered by our CRA mileage log.

6. Canada: the guide and what the pages don't say

• In the guide: under Line 9200 – Travel expenses, the guide says "You can deduct travel expenses you incur to earn business and professional income." "Travel expenses include public transportation fares, hotel accommodation, and meals." (CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16).

Our reading: neither CRA page we read defines being away from home, says whether a trip has to be overnight, or covers a trip mixed with a holiday or a long stay in one place. The general rule still applies: only the business part of an expense counts. See "Where the sources differ".

7. Side by side

Our summary of sections one to six, not official wording.

8. Step by step

Our order of steps, based on sections one to six — not an official checklist.

1. Before you book, write down the business reason for the trip: the client, the meeting, the job or the event.
2. Work out whether the trip takes you away from where you normally work long enough that you need to stay overnight.
3. Keep fares, hotel bills and other trip costs apart from your everyday spending, with a receipt for each.
4. If you add holiday days or bring someone along, note which days and costs are personal and leave them out.
5. If a hotel bill includes meals, split the room from the meals, and follow the meal rules in our meals guide.
6. If you drive, record the trip in your mileage log rather than here.
7. If the client pays you back, follow the recharging rules and don’t claim the same cost twice.
8. Put each cost on the line or box your tax office uses for travel, and meals where your country puts them.
9. Keep the bookings, receipts and your trip record with your tax papers, and ask the tax office or an adviser if you’re unsure.

9. Wording to copy

Fill in everything in [brackets]. This is ours, not from any agency, and it's not tax, legal or accounting advice. It doesn't take the place of the receipts and records your tax office may ask for.

A business trip record for your files

Business trip record (my own records, not an official document)
Trip: [where to], [date left] to [date back]
Business reason: [client / meeting / job / event]
Where I usually work: [town or area]
Nights away: [number]
Fares: [type of fare], [amount], receipt kept at [where]
Hotel: [name], [amount], meals on the bill: [none / amount split out]
Other trip costs: [local fares / baggage / other], [amount]
Personal days or side trips (left out): [none / dates and costs]
Anyone travelling with me (left out unless they work for the business): [none / who]
Driving (recorded in my mileage log): [yes / no]
Paid back by the client: [no / yes, invoice reference]
Line or box used: [line or box]

A note to a client confirming a visit

Hi [client name],

To confirm the visit we arranged: I'll be at [place] from [date] to [date] for [meeting / workshop / project work].

[If we agreed you'll cover travel costs: as agreed, I'll invoice the fares and hotel at cost with the receipts attached.]

Could you reply to confirm the dates and the agenda? Thanks,
[your name]

10. Checklist

Our summary of the official pages above, not an official checklist.

• The business reason for each trip, written down
• Dates away and where you stayed
• Fares, hotel bills and other receipts for each trip
• Personal days, side trips and anyone travelling with you kept apart
• Meals split from room charges, with the meal rules checked
• Driving recorded in your mileage log
• Costs a client paid you back noted, so they aren’t claimed twice
• The line or box you used on your return
• Anything you’re not sure about, checked with the tax office or an adviser

Free tools and kits

• Our free expense tracking guide shows a simple way to keep business cost records.
• Our free expense and receipt log keeps the details for each payment.
• Our free mileage logs for the US, the UK and Canada record driving on a trip.
• Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) can log each fare, hotel bill and other trip cost: the Expenses tab has a date, a category, a description, the amount paid and a "Deductible? (your call)" column, and the category drop-down lets you pick Travel from the kit's own list, the travel line from the US list, or the car, van and travel expenses box from the UK list, or type your own. Each row counts in full in the year of its date; to leave out the personal part of a trip, enter a row marked Yes and a row marked No. It doesn't decide whether a trip counts, split a hotel bill, apply meal limits, track mileage, pick the line or box for you or file anything.
• All three kits together: the All-Kits Bundle by Small Rows (US$24, one-time).

Where the sources differ

• What counts as away from home: the IRS has a full test (away from the area of your tax home longer than an ordinary day's work, and needing sleep or rest). GOV.UK and the return notes talk about overnight business trips, and HMRC's manual about nights away from home, but give no fuller test, and the CRA pages we read don't define it at all. Our reading is that an overnight trip away from where you usually work is the clearest case in all three countries, but check with your tax office or an adviser before claiming a day trip or a stay near home.
• Trips mixed with a holiday: the IRS lets you claim the travel there and back on a trip that was mainly for business, leaving out the personal days, while HMRC's manual says travel with a dual purpose is disallowable, and the CRA pages we read don't cover it. Our reading is that in the UK a trip with a real holiday purpose may lose the fare as well as the holiday days, so keep evidence that the business was the reason for the trip; ask an adviser if you're unsure.
• Long stays in one place: the IRS treats a stay expected to last longer than its time limit as indefinite, so the new place becomes your tax home; HMRC's manual rules out overnight costs at the base of your trade; the CRA pages we read say nothing. Our reading is that a long stay near one client may stop counting as travel, so get advice before claiming one.
• Meals on the bill: the IRS says to split meals out of a room charge, and HMRC's manual allows reasonable meals with overnight accommodation whether or not they're on the same bill. Our reading is that splitting the meals from the room is the clearest record everywhere, because meal limits apply in the US and Canada; the limits are in our meals guide.
• Where meals go: the US puts meals on their own line, the UK notes include meals on overnight business trips in the travel box, and the CRA lists meals as travel expenses but points to its meals line for the limit. Our reading is to keep meals as their own rows in your records so they can go wherever your return needs them.
• Someone travelling with you: the IRS generally doesn't let you claim another person's travel; the UK and Canadian pages we read don't mention it. Our reading is that another person's costs aren't business costs unless they work for the business, under the general rules about business and personal costs.
• Travel outside your country: the IRS says deductions for getting to and from a destination outside the United States may be limited and has more rules than this page covers; the UK and Canadian pages we read don't treat foreign trips separately. Our reading is to check the IRS rules in full before claiming a foreign trip from the US.
• HMRC's manual is internal guidance: the manual pages were written for HMRC staff and carry older page dates than the GOV.UK pages; the GOV.UK pages themselves are dated earlier than the IRS and CRA pages. Our reading is that the rules above are current, but check the live pages and later editions before you file.
• What we did not check: car and van costs beyond pointing to the mileage logs; meal limits and set daily meal allowances; conventions and conferences (see the training guide); moving home or relocating; living or working abroad for long periods; the full IRS rules for foreign travel, cruise ships and luxury water travel; travel costs a client pays you back (see the recharging guide); meals on day trips without an overnight stay; employees, partnerships and companies; VAT, GST/HST and sales tax on travel; the short self-employment pages line by line; US state rules; Quebec and provincial rules; other countries' rules.

When to get advice

• a trip mixes business with a holiday, or a family member comes along;
• you stay in one place near a client for a long time;
• you travel outside your own country for work;
• you work from several places and aren't sure where you usually work;
• a client pays some of your travel costs;
• you have a partner or a company, or you're registered for VAT, GST/HST or sales tax.

Talk to an accountant or a tax adviser in your country. This page is general information only.

Related

• Freelance expense tracking
• Client gifts, meals and entertainment
• Schedule C for US freelancers
• UK Self Assessment for freelancers
• Canadian self-employment statement for freelancers
• Training and course costs for freelancers
• Charging clients for expenses

Sources

• United States: IRS: Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Topic no. 511, Business travel expenses, page date 09-Oct-2026
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08 · GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, car, van and travel expenses, page date 2024-11-08 · HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes (Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF) · HMRC: BIM47705 - Specific deductions - travel and subsistence: expenditure on meals and accommodation, page date 2018-11-27 · HMRC: BIM37610 - Wholly and exclusively: duality of, or non-trade, purpose: travel costs: overseas conference plus holiday, page date 2021-11-22
• Canada: CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Line 9200 – Travel expenses, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16

Checked 2026-10-20. Found a mistake? Tell us via Support.