Can you claim your phone and internet bills as a freelancer? Only the business part: the IRS, HMRC and CRA rules for landlines, mobiles and home internet (US, UK, Canada)

Most freelancers use the same phone and the same home internet for work and for everything else. Here's what the IRS, HMRC and the CRA say about the part of those bills you can claim, the special rules for a home landline, how to split a shared bill, why phone and internet stay out of your home office figures, 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 phone, mobile and internet bills. It doesn't tell you what share of a bill is business, which method you must use, or which line or box applies to you, and it doesn't cover buying a phone or other equipment, home office calculations, employees, companies, sales tax, VAT or GST/HST, US states, Canadian provinces, Quebec, or other countries. Rules change; check the current official pages before you claim. Official pages were read on 2026-10-19.

The short answer

1. US: "If you have an expense that is partly for business and partly personal, separate the personal part from the business part." "The personal part is generally not deductible." For a home landline there is a special rule: the basic charge for the first line into your home doesn't count, even if you use it for work.
2. UK: "You cannot claim for any non-business use of premises, phones or other office resources." Phone, mobile and internet bills are office costs, and only the business part counts. They aren't part of the working-from-home flat rate.
3. Canada: "Do not deduct the basic monthly rate of your home telephone. However, you can deduct any long distance telephone calls you made on your home telephone for your business. If you have a separate telephone for business calls only, you can deduct its basic monthly rate." "You can also deduct the percentage of airtime expenses for a cellphone you use to earn your business income." For home internet, the CRA's folio says only the business portion counts.
4. Working from home doesn't change this: in all three countries, phone and internet are dealt with on their own, not as part of your home office or working-from-home claim.
5. Buying the phone itself is equipment, not a bill; our guide to buying equipment as a freelancer covers it.

On this page

• 1. United States: the business part of a bill
• 2. United States: a home landline and working from home
• 3. United Kingdom: phone, mobile and internet bills
• 4. United Kingdom: working from home and how HMRC splits a bill
• 5. Canada: telephone and cellphone airtime
• 6. Canada: home internet and working from home
• 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: the business part of a bill

• The general rule: "To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your field of business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your business." (IRS: Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Business and personal use: "If you have an expense that is partly for business and partly personal, separate the personal part from the business part." "The personal part is generally not deductible."
• Mobile phones and home internet: the IRS pages we read for the self-employed don't name mobile phone plans or home internet service. Our reading is that the general rule above applies: claim the business part and keep a record of how you worked it out.
• Calls while travelling: in its list of travel expenses, the publication says "You can deduct the cost of business calls while on your business trip, including business communication by fax machine or other communication devices."

For the schedule itself, see Schedule C for US freelancers.

2. United States: a home landline and working from home

• The first landline: "The basic local telephone service charge, including taxes, for the first telephone landline into your home is a nondeductible personal expense. However, charges for business long-distance phone calls on that line, as well as the cost of a second line into your home used exclusively for business, are deductible business expenses." "Do not include these expenses as a cost of using your home for business. Deduct these charges separately on the appropriate form or schedule. For example, if you file Schedule C (Form 1040), deduct these expenses on line 25, Utilities (instead of line 30, Expenses for business use of your home)." (IRS: Publication 587 (2025), Business Use of Your Home, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Where it goes: under Line 25, the instructions for the business schedule say "Deduct utility expenses only for your trade or business." Under Local telephone service. "If you used your home phone for business, do not deduct the base rate (including taxes) of the first phone line into your residence. But you can deduct any additional costs you incurred for business that are more than the base rate of the first phone line. For example, if you had a second line, you can deduct the business percentage of the charges for that line, including the base rate charges." (IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Separate from the home office deduction: "No matter how you figure the deduction for business use of your home, deduct business expenses that are not for the use of your home itself (dues, salaries, supplies, certain telephone expenses, depreciation of equipment, etc.) on the appropriate lines of Schedule C (Form 1040) or Schedule F (Form 1040)." By contrast, home costs are split by the share of your home you use: "Expenses for utilities and services, such as electricity, gas, trash removal, and cleaning services, are primarily personal expenses. However, if you use part of your home for business, you can deduct the business part of these expenses. Generally, the business percentage for utilities is the same as the percentage of your home used for business."
• Calls from home don't make a home office: "Using your home for occasional meetings and telephone calls will not qualify you to deduct expenses for the business use of your home."

3. United Kingdom: phone, mobile and internet bills

• Office costs: GOV.UK's list of costs you can claim includes "office costs, for example stationery or phone bills" (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08). The office costs part says "You can claim expenses for costs such as:"
  • phone, mobile, fax and internet bills
  • postage
  • stationery
  • printing
  "You cannot claim for any non-business use of premises, phones or other office resources." "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, office, property and equipment, page date 2024-11-08).
• Business and personal use: "You can only claim allowable expenses for the business costs." GOV.UK's example: "Your mobile phone bills for the year total £200. Of this, you spend £130 on personal calls and £70 on business calls." "You can claim for £70 of business expenses."
• On the return: the notes for the full self-employment pages say, under Box 23 Phone, fax, stationery and other office costs, "This includes phone and fax running costs, postage, stationery and printing costs, small office equipment and computer software (if under 2 years old). If you include the non-business or private use proportion of these expenses, you’ll also need to put that part of the expense in box 38." They also say "Some expenses are only partly allowable. For example, you can only claim the business part of the costs of using your own car or using a room in your home as your office." (HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes, Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF). If you use the short pages or give one total for expenses, check the notes for how to show the private part.

For the return as a whole, see UK Self Assessment for freelancers.

4. United Kingdom: working from home and how HMRC splits a bill

• Working from home: GOV.UK says "You may be able to claim a proportion of your costs for things like:"
  • heating
  • electricity
  • Council Tax
  • mortgage interest or rent
  • internet and telephone use
  "You’ll need to find a reasonable method of dividing your costs, for example by the number of rooms you use for business or the amount of time you spend working from home."
• The flat rate leaves them out: "Calculate your allowable expenses using a flat rate based on the hours you work from home each month." "The flat rate does not include telephone or internet expenses. You can claim the business proportion of these bills by working out the actual costs." (GOV.UK: Simplified expenses if you're self-employed, working from home, page date 2020-08-19).
• Not household costs: HMRC's internal manual for its staff says "Telephone and broadband costs do not relate to the home itself and are not household expenses. The following information applies whether use of home expenses are based on actual costs or the flat rate amount."
• Phone lines: "The cost of business calls is allowable. Also allow a proportion of the line rental (based on the ratio of trade use to total use). This proportion should reflect all aspects of use, including incoming calls, though in most cases reference to itemised outgoing calls will provide a reasonable and acceptable measure." "Care should be taken and a flexible approach adopted when considering the level of apportioned trade expenditure, relating to all inclusive packages offered by telephone and broadband providers."
• Broadband: "Expenditure on an internet connection (including broadband and wireless broadband) is allowable to the extent that the connection is used for trade purposes. Where there is mixed (trade/non-trade) use, follow the approach used for telephone rentals." (HMRC: BIM47820 - Specific deductions: use of home: specific expenses, page date 2025-05-01).
• HMRC's own examples: "The following examples are a guide only and intended to demonstrate the principles to be applied." In one, an author working from home: "Her itemised telephone bill shows that a third of the calls made are business calls. She can claim the cost of those calls plus a third of the standing charge." "She has a broadband internet connection which she uses for research purposes as well as for private use. Two thirds of the time spent online is for business purposes, so that two thirds of the monthly charge is allowable." (HMRC: BIM47825 - Specific deductions: use of home: examples, page date 2023-08-24).
• When private use is small: the same manual says "Where private use is not significant, the full cost of telephone and broadband service can be claimed as a business expense." "This simplification is not a part of the simplified expenses legislation introduced for 2013-14 and later tax years." See "Where the sources differ" below before relying on this.

5. Canada: telephone and cellphone airtime

• The general rule: "Generally, you can deduct any reasonable current expense you incur to earn business income." (CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31).
• Telephone: "You can deduct expenses for telephone and utilities, such as gas, oil, electricity, water, and cable, if you incurred the expenses to earn income." "Do not deduct the basic monthly rate of your home telephone. However, you can deduct any long distance telephone calls you made on your home telephone for your business. If you have a separate telephone for business calls only, you can deduct its basic monthly rate." (CRA: Line 9220 – Utilities, page date 2026-08-31).
• Cellphones: "You can also deduct the percentage of airtime expenses for a cellphone you use to earn your business income." Under Computer and other equipment leasing costs, the guide adds "If you lease computers, cellular telephones, fax machines, and other equipment, you can deduct the percentage of the lease costs that reasonably relates to earning your business income. You can also deduct the percentage of airtime expenses for a cellular telephone that reasonably relates to earning your self-employment income." "If you buy a computer, cellular telephone, fax machine, or other such equipment, you cannot deduct the cost." (CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16).

The utilities line sits in the expenses part of your statement of business or professional activities: see our guide for Canadian freelancers. A phone you buy is capital property; our equipment guide covers capital cost allowance.

6. Canada: home internet and working from home

• Not a workspace cost: "The cost of telephone and internet service, consumed supplies (such as pens, pencils, paper clips, stationery, and stamps) and other similar expenses may relate to the business, but they do not relate to the work space." "Expenses of this nature are not subject to the requirements in subsection 18(12) and may be deducted as a regular business expense."
• Only the business portion: "To the extent that telephone and internet service at an individual’s home is used for both business and personal purposes, only the business portion of the expense will be deductible." "A reasonable basis of proration should be used to determine the portion of any usage attributable to the individual’s business." (CRA: Income Tax Folio S4-F2-C2, Business Use of Home Expenses, page date 2018-04-17).
• The home calculation is separate: the utilities page says "The expenses for utilities that are related to business use of workspace in your home have to be claimed as business-use-of-home expenses." The business-use-of-home page lists costs such as these: "You can deduct part of your maintenance costs such as heating, home insurance, electricity, and cleaning materials." It also says "The expenses you claim on line 9945 cannot have been claimed elsewhere on Form T2125." (CRA: Business-use-of-home expenses, page date 2026-08-31).

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. List each phone, mobile and internet bill you pay, and who the account is in the name of.
2. Note which lines or plans are used only for the business and which are shared with personal use.
3. For a shared bill, pick a reasonable way to measure business use, such as itemised business calls, a log of time online, or a short sample period you keep.
4. Work out the business part of each shared bill and write down how you did it.
5. Check the special rules where you file: the basic charge for a home landline in the US and Canada, and the line rental and package rules in HMRC’s manual.
6. Keep phone and internet out of your home office or working-from-home figures, and claim their business part on their own line or box.
7. Keep the bills, any itemised call lists and your method note with your records.
8. Check the share again if your use changes during the year, and ask the tax office or an accountant 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 bills and records your tax office may ask for.

A business-use note for your files

Phone and internet business-use note (my own records, not an official document)
Account: [phone line / mobile plan / home internet], provider [name], in the name of [name]
Period: [start date] to [end date]
Total paid in the period: [amount]
Used only for the business: [yes / no]
If shared, business share: [share], worked out by [itemised business calls / log of time online / sample period of [length]]
Business part claimed: [amount], on [line or box]
Kept out of my home office or working-from-home figures: [yes]
Bills and itemised lists kept at: [where]

A question to your accountant before you claim

Hi [accountant's name],

I use my [phone / mobile / home internet] for both my business and personal use. The bills for [period] come to [amount], and I worked out my business share as [share] by [method].

[If a landline: it is the first line into my home.] [If a bundle: the plan also includes [TV / a phone handset / other].]

Could you tell me whether that share and method are reasonable, which line or box the business part goes on, and what I need to keep? I've attached the bills.

Thanks,
[your name]

10. Checklist

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

• Every phone, mobile and internet bill for the year
• Which lines or plans are business-only and which are shared
• Your business share of each shared bill, and how you worked it out
• Itemised call lists or a usage log that backs up the share
• Phone and internet kept out of your home office or working-from-home figures
• The phone or router itself recorded as equipment, not as a bill
• The line or box you used on your return
• Anything you’re not sure about, checked with the tax office or an accountant

Free tools and kits

• Our free expense tracking guide shows a simple way to keep business cost records, including a note of how you split a shared cost.
• Our free expense and receipt log keeps the details for each bill.
• Calls or data you pay for on a client's project? See charging clients for expenses.
• Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) can log each bill: 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 Phone & internet from the kit's own list, the utilities line from the US list or the phone, fax, stationery and other office costs box from the UK list on Settings, or type your own. Anything marked Yes counts in full, so to count only the business part, split the bill into a row marked Yes and a row marked No. It doesn't work out your business share, decide which line or box applies, store bills or file anything.
• All three kits together: the All-Kits Bundle by Small Rows (US$24, one-time).

Where the sources differ

• Mobile phones and internet in the US: the IRS pages we read give a rule for the first landline into your home, but don't mention mobile phone plans or home internet service for the self-employed, or say which schedule line they go on. Our reading is that the general rule applies, so only the business part counts; ask the IRS or an adviser which line to use.
• Home internet and the US home office: the home publication lists utilities and services whose business part follows the share of your home you use, but it doesn't name internet service, and it keeps telephone charges out of the home office deduction. Our reading is that the pages don't settle whether home internet belongs with the telephone or the home costs; check with an adviser before including it in a home office claim.
• Private use in the UK: GOV.UK says you can't claim for any non-business use of phones, while HMRC's internal manual tells its staff that the full cost of telephone and broadband can be claimed where private use is not significant. Our reading is that the public GOV.UK rule is the starting point and the manual is guidance for HMRC staff; ask HMRC or an accountant before claiming the full cost of a bill you also use privately.
• Internet on the UK return: the notes for the full self-employment pages name phone and fax running costs in the office costs box but don't mention internet, while GOV.UK lists internet bills with phone bills among office costs. Our reading is that internet bills go with the other office costs, but check the notes for your tax year.
• How to split a bill in the UK: GOV.UK's working-from-home section suggests dividing costs by rooms or time, while HMRC's manual says telephone and broadband aren't household costs and splits them by business use, such as itemised calls or time online. Our reading is that splitting a phone or internet bill by your actual business use is the better fit; both sources say only the business part counts.
• Internet in Canada: the CRA's utilities page and guide name telephone, cellphone airtime and cable, but not internet. The folio says telephone and internet service are regular business expenses and only the business portion counts, but it doesn't name a line. Our reading is that the business portion of home internet is a regular business expense outside the home calculation; ask the CRA or an accountant which line to use.
• Landlines differ by country: the IRS and the CRA both rule out the basic charge for the first or home line even if you use it for work, while HMRC's manual allows a share of the line rental. Our reading is that you should follow the rule for the country you file in rather than carry one over.
• Bundles and handsets: none of the pages we read explain how to split a package that includes a phone handset, TV or other services; HMRC's manual only asks for a flexible approach to all-inclusive packages, and the CRA's pages speak of airtime. Our reading is that you should separate the handset and any non-business services before working out the business share; ask if your bill doesn't show them separately.
• Page dates and editions: the IRS publications and instructions are the editions for the latest tax year; GOV.UK's working-from-home flat rate page and the CRA folio carry page dates years old; HMRC's examples are a guide only. 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: buying phones, routers and other equipment (see our equipment guide); home office and working-from-home calculations in detail; employees and phones their employer pays for; companies and partnerships; sales tax, VAT and GST/HST on bills; the short self-employment pages line by line; US state rules; Quebec and provincial rules; other countries' rules.

When to get advice

• you use one phone or connection heavily for both work and personal use and aren't sure how to measure the split;
• your plan is a bundle with a handset, TV or other services;
• you work from home and also claim home office or working-from-home costs;
• a client pays for your phone or internet, or you charge it on to a client;
• the account is in someone else's name, such as a partner's or a family plan;
• 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
• Schedule C for US freelancers
• UK Self Assessment for freelancers
• Canadian self-employment statement for freelancers
• Buying equipment as a freelancer
• Client meals, entertainment and gifts

Sources

• United States: IRS: Publication 587 (2025), Business Use of Your Home, page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business, page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, page date 2024-11-08 · GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, office, property and equipment, page date 2024-11-08 · GOV.UK: Simplified expenses if you're self-employed, working from home, page date 2020-08-19 · HMRC: BIM47820 - Specific deductions: use of home: specific expenses, page date 2025-05-01 · HMRC: BIM47825 - Specific deductions: use of home: examples, page date 2023-08-24 · HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes (Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF)
• Canada: CRA: Line 9220 – Utilities, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Business-use-of-home expenses, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16 · CRA: Income Tax Folio S4-F2-C2, Business Use of Home Expenses, page date 2018-04-17

Checked 2026-10-19. Found a mistake? Tell us via Support.