Can you claim repairs and maintenance as a freelancer? Fixing equipment and business premises, repair or improvement, replacing a part or the whole thing, your own time and where it goes under the IRS, HMRC and CRA rules (US, UK, Canada)

A new screen for a cracked laptop, a printer service, a technician to fix the studio lights, a coat of paint in the workshop: keeping your tools and workspace in working order is part of running a business. Here's what the IRS, HMRC and the CRA say about claiming repairs and maintenance, how each one tells a repair apart from an improvement, what happens when you replace a part or the whole thing, and which line or box each country uses.

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 to repair or maintain equipment or business premises. It doesn't tell you whether a particular job is a repair or an improvement, what share of a mixed cost is business, or which line or box applies to you, and it doesn't cover vehicles, rental property businesses, employees, partnerships or companies, VAT, GST/HST or sales tax, US states, Canadian provinces, Quebec, or other countries. Buying equipment, depreciation, rent and insurance are in our separate guides. Rules change; check the current official pages before you claim. Official pages were read on 2026-10-21.

The short answer

1. US: the Schedule C instructions say, under Line 21, "Deduct the cost of incidental repairs and maintenance that do not add to the property’s value or appreciably prolong its life. Do not deduct the value of your own labor. Do not deduct amounts spent to restore or replace property; they must be capitalized." See sections one and two.
2. UK: GOV.UK says "You can claim expenses for repairs and maintenance of business premises and equipment." HMRC's manual says "The cost of improvements to an asset is not an allowable expense." See sections three and four.
3. Canada: the CRA's repairs and maintenance line says "You can deduct the cost of labour and materials for any minor repairs or maintenance done to property you use to earn business income." Repairs that are capital in nature go through capital cost allowance; see sections five and six.
4. Your own time? The IRS and the CRA both say you can't deduct the value of your own labour; the UK pages we read don't mention it. Our reading is in "Where the sources differ".
5. Upgrades and new things? An improvement, a replacement of the whole item or something bought run-down follows the equipment rules in our equipment guide, not the repairs line.

On this page

• 1. United States: the repairs line
• 2. United States: repair or improvement
• 3. United Kingdom: repairs to premises and equipment
• 4. United Kingdom: HMRC's manual on repairs
• 5. Canada: the repairs and maintenance line
• 6. Canada: current or capital
• 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 repairs line

• 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."
• Business and personal: "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."
• Repairs: "In general, you don’t depreciate the costs of repairs or maintenance if they don’t improve your property. Instead, you deduct these amounts on line 21 of Schedule C (Form 1040). Improvements are amounts paid for betterments to your property, restorations of your property, or work that adapts your property to a new or different use."
• Other Expenses You Can Deduct: "You may also be able to deduct the following expenses." The list includes "Repairs and maintenance to real or tangible personal property."
• Election to capitalize repair and maintenance costs that do not improve your property: "You can make an election to treat certain repairs or replacements in your trade or business as improvements subject to depreciation. This election is available if you treat these amounts as capital expenditures on your books and records regularly used in computing your income and expenses." (IRS: Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• Line 21: "Deduct the cost of incidental repairs and maintenance that do not add to the property’s value or appreciably prolong its life. Do not deduct the value of your own labor. Do not deduct amounts spent to restore or replace property; they must be capitalized."
• Part V. Other Expenses: "Do not include the cost of business equipment or furniture; replacements or permanent improvements to property; or personal, living, and family expenses." (IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), page date 30-Apr-2026).

Repairs to the home you work from are part of the home office rules, in the home office section of our Schedule C guide; the other expense lines are in its expense categories.

2. United States: repair or improvement

• How Do You Treat Repairs and Improvements? "You generally deduct the cost of repairing business property in the same way as any other business expense. However, if the cost is for a betterment to the property, to restore the property, or to adapt the property to a new or different use, you must treat it as an improvement and depreciate it."
• Improvements to rented property: "You can depreciate permanent improvements you make to business property you rent from someone else." (IRS: Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property, page date 30-Apr-2026).
• The law behind it: "Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows you to deduct all the ordinary and necessary expenses you incur during the taxable year in carrying on your trade or business, including the costs of certain materials, supplies, repairs, and maintenance."
• What counts as an improvement: "A unit of tangible property is improved only if the amounts paid are:"
  • For a betterment to the unit of property; or
  • To restore the unit of property; or
  • To adapt the unit of property to a new or different use.
  The first kind of betterment on the list is "Amounts paid to fix a material condition or material defect that existed before the acquisition or arose during production of the unit of property; or"
• Safe harbor for routine maintenance: "You are not required to capitalize as an improvement, and therefore may deduct, amounts that meet all of the following criteria:"
  • Amounts paid for recurring activities that you expect to perform;
  • As a result of your use of the property in your trade or business;
  • To keep the property in its ordinarily efficient operating condition; and
  • You reasonably expect, at the time the property is placed in service, to perform the activities:
  • For building structures and building systems, more than once during the 10-year period beginning when placed in service, or
  • For property other than buildings, more than once during the class life of the unit of property.
  "If the amount doesn't meet all of the requirements for the routine maintenance safe harbor, you may still deduct the amount if the amount is not for an improvement under the facts and circumstances analysis." "The routine maintenance safe harbor doesn't apply to amounts paid for betterments." "The routine maintenance safe harbor does apply to certain restorations that would otherwise be improvements, including when you pay amounts to replace a major component or substantial structural part of a unit of property." (IRS: Tangible property final regulations, page date 04-Aug-2026).

The same IRS page also has a safe harbor election for small taxpayers for work on buildings; read its conditions there. Depreciation and the first-year rules for things that last are in our equipment guide, not repeated here.

3. United Kingdom: repairs to premises and equipment

• 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).
• Business premises: "You can claim expenses for repairs and maintenance of business premises and equipment." "For alterations to install or replace equipment, claim:"
  • allowable expenses if you use cash basis accounting
  • capital allowances if you use traditional accounting
  "If you’re not sure whether a business cost is an allowable expense contact HMRC."
• Non-business use: "You cannot claim for any non-business use of premises, phones or other office resources." (GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed, office, property and equipment, page date 2024-11-08).
• The box: the notes for the full self-employment pages say, under Box 22 Repairs and maintenance of property and equipment, "This includes any repairs and maintenance of business premises and equipment. If you include any repairs, improvements or alterations of non-business parts of premises or equipment, you’ll also need to put the disallowable amount in box 37." (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, the boxes are different; our UK Self Assessment guide shows the expense boxes on both versions, and working from home is in its working from home section. Cash basis and capital allowances are in the UK part of our equipment guide.

4. United Kingdom: HMRC's manual on repairs

• The general position: "The general position is that:"
  • the cost of a repair is normally allowable expenditure; but
  • the cost of replacing an asset or of making a significant improvement to an asset is capital expenditure and not allowable as a deduction.
• Replacing an asset: "Replacing a part of an asset is a repair to the asset, but replacing the whole asset is not a repair and is not an allowable deduction for tax purposes because it is capital expenditure."
• Improvements and alterations: "The cost of improvements to an asset is not an allowable expense." "The cost of altering an asset so that it does something different is not allowable."
• New materials: "The use of new materials does not mean that the repair is not allowable."
• Something bought run-down: "If an asset is acquired in a run-down condition, however, the cost of putting the asset into a useable condition is capital expenditure and not an allowable deduction."
• Character of the asset: "If as a result of the work the asset can simply be used to do the same job as before then it is likely to be a repair and therefore allowable expenditure. If it can do more or can do something different then the character of the asset has changed and the work is likely not to be an allowable expense."
• Timing: "A deduction for expenditure on repairs is given when the cost of the repair is deducted in the profit and loss account in line with generally accepted accounting practice (whether that is UK GAAP or IAS)." (HMRC: Business Income Manual, BIM46901 - Specific deductions: repairs and renewals: overview, page date 2020-03-03).

The manual is HMRC's internal guidance, written in terms of accounts drawn up the traditional way; how it fits the cash basis is in "Where the sources differ".

5. Canada: the repairs and maintenance line

• 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 8960 – Repairs and maintenance: "You can deduct the cost of labour and materials for any minor repairs or maintenance done to property you use to earn business income." "However, you cannot deduct any of the following:"
  • the value of your own labour
  • the costs you incur for repairs that are capital in nature (capital expense)
  • the costs you incur for repairs that have been reimbursed by your insurance company
  "For repairs that are capital in nature, you can claim a capital cost allowance (CCA)." "You have to claim the maintenance and repairs related to business use of workspace in your home as business-use-of-home expenses." (CRA: Line 8960 – Repairs and maintenance, page date 2026-08-31).
• In the guide: "You can deduct the cost of labour and materials for any minor repairs or maintenance done to property you use to earn income. You cannot deduct the value of your own labour." "You cannot deduct costs you incur for repairs that are capital in nature. However, you can claim CCA." (CRA: Guide Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Chapter 3 – Expenses, page date 2026-04-16).

Working from home is in the home section of our guide for Canadian freelancers, and the other expense lines in its expenses section.

6. Canada: current or capital

• The starting point: "Renovations and expenses that extend the useful life of your property or improve it beyond its original condition are usually capital expenses. However, an increase in a property's market value because of an expense is not a major factor in deciding whether the expense is capital or current."
• Maintain or improve: "An expense that simply restores a property to its original condition is usually a current expense. For example, the cost of repairing wooden steps is a current expense." "The cost of a repair that improves a property beyond its original condition is probably a capital expense. If you replace wooden steps with concrete steps, the cost is a capital expense."
• A part or a separate asset: "The cost of repairing a property by replacing one of its parts is usually a current expense." "The cost of replacing a separate asset within that property is a capital expense."
• Maintenance put off: "If this cost was for ordinary maintenance that was not done when it was necessary, it is a maintenance expense, and you deduct it as a current expense."
• Used property you bought: "The cost of repairing used property you acquired to put it in a suitable condition for use in your business is considered a capital expense even though in other circumstances it would be treated as a current operating expense." "Where the repairs were for ordinary maintenance of a property you already had in your business, the expense is usually current." (CRA: Current or capital expenses, page date 2026-08-31).

The same chart has a lasting-benefit test and a value test; those, and capital cost allowance, are in the Canadian part of our equipment guide.

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. Keep the invoice or receipt for every repair or maintenance job, and note what was worked on and why.
2. Note whether the work put something back the way it was, or made it better, bigger or able to do something new.
3. Note whether you replaced a part or the whole item, and for premises which part of the building it was.
4. If you bought the item or took on the space in a run-down or used state, note what condition it was in.
5. Leave out the value of your own time; only what you paid for labour and materials is a cost.
6. Take off any amount your insurer paid back.
7. Keep repairs to your home or to personal belongings apart; they follow the working-from-home rules or aren’t business costs.
8. Put upgrades, replacements and run-down purchases through the equipment rules instead.
9. Use the same approach for the same kind of work from year to year.
10. Ask the tax office or an adviser if a job is large, unusual or hard to place.

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 invoices and records your tax office may ask for.

A record for each repair or maintenance job

Repair and maintenance record (my own records, not an official document)
Tax year: [year or period]
Date of the work: [date]
Done by: [contractor or supplier name / myself, materials only]
What was worked on: [equipment, tool, part of the premises]
What was done: [short description]
Repair or upgrade: [put back as it was / made better or bigger / adapted to a new use / not sure]
Part or whole: [a part / the whole item]
Condition when I got it: [working / run-down or used / not applicable]
Business or mixed: [business only / mixed, business part worked out as: method]
Amount paid for labour and materials: [amount]
Insurance paid back: [none / amount]
Line or box used: [line or box]
Invoice kept at: [where]

A request to a contractor for an itemised invoice

Hi [contractor or repair shop],

Could you send an itemised invoice for the work on [item or space] on [date], showing labour and materials separately and describing what was repaired?

[If part of the job was an upgrade, a replacement of the whole item or a new addition, could you list that part separately?]

That way my records match the work done. Thanks,
[your name]

10. Checklist

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

• Invoices and receipts kept for each repair or maintenance job
• What was worked on and why, noted
• Repair or upgrade, and part or whole, noted for each job
• Condition when bought or taken on, noted for used or run-down items
• Your own time left out
• Insurance pay-outs taken off
• Home and personal repairs kept apart
• Upgrades and replacements moved to the equipment rules
• 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 bill.
• Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) can log each repair 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 the repairs and maintenance line from the US list or the repairs and maintenance of property and equipment box from the UK list, or Other from the kit's own list, or type your own. Each row counts in full in the year of its date. It doesn't decide whether a job is a repair or an improvement, work out depreciation or capital allowances, take off insurance pay-outs, 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

• Your own time: the IRS instructions and the CRA both say you can't deduct the value of your own labour, but the UK pages we read don't mention it. Our reading is that the same applies in the UK, because your own time isn't a cost you paid; claim only what you paid others and for materials.
• Repairs your insurer paid for: only the CRA's repairs line says you can't deduct repairs your insurance company reimbursed; the IRS and GOV.UK pages we read don't cover it. Our reading is that you shouldn't claim the part an insurer paid back in any of the three countries, and that a large insured loss is a case for advice; insurance premiums are in our business insurance guide.
• Three layers in the US: the repairs line speaks of incidental repairs that don't add to value or prolong life, the IRS depreciation publication and the regulations page use betterment, restoration and adaptation, and the routine maintenance safe harbor can cover work that would otherwise count as a restoration. Our reading is that everyday fixes and servicing go on the repairs line, and anything that replaces a major part, adds something or changes what the item does is worth checking against the regulations page or with an adviser.
• The UK cash basis: HMRC's manual describes repairs and improvements in terms of accounts drawn up the traditional way, while GOV.UK says alterations to install or replace equipment are allowable expenses under the cash basis. Our reading is that everyday repairs are claimed the same way under either method, but replacements, alterations and work on buildings under the cash basis should be checked against the cash basis rules, which our equipment guide links.
• Rented premises: the IRS depreciation publication says you can depreciate permanent improvements you make to business property you rent, and the GOV.UK and CRA pages we read don't single out rented space. Our reading is that the repair or improvement test is the same whether you own or rent; rent itself is in our office rent guide.
• Working from home: the CRA sends repairs to your home workspace to its working-from-home rules, the UK return notes put repairs to non-business parts of premises in the disallowable column, and the US home office rules sit in their own part of the instructions. Our reading is that repairs to the home you work from follow each country's working-from-home rules, linked above, rather than the repairs line.
• Page dates and editions: the IRS publications and instructions are the editions for the latest tax year and the CRA pages were updated this year, but GOV.UK's expenses pages and HMRC's manual page carry older page dates. 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, van and other vehicle repairs; rental property businesses; the US small taxpayer safe harbor in detail, and what you need to file to use the routine maintenance safe harbor; UK capital allowances on integral features and structures; Canadian capital cost allowance classes; repairs paid for by a landlord or under a lease; employees, partnerships and companies; the short self-employment pages line by line; VAT, GST/HST and sales tax; US state rules; Quebec and provincial rules; other countries' rules.

When to get advice

• a job replaces a major part, adds something new or changes what the item or space does;
• you bought equipment or took on premises in a run-down state and paid to fix it up;
• you rent your workspace and paid for work on it yourself;
• an insurer paid for some or all of a repair;
• the work was on the home you also live in;
• 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

• Buying equipment as a freelancer
• Coworking, studio and office rent
• Business insurance
• Freelance expense tracking
• Schedule C for US freelancers
• UK Self Assessment for freelancers
• Canadian self-employment statement for freelancers

Sources

• United States: 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 · IRS: Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property, page date 30-Apr-2026 · IRS: Tangible property final regulations, page date 04-Aug-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 · HMRC: Self-employment (full) notes (Tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 (2025–26), PDF) · HMRC: Business Income Manual, BIM46901 - Specific deductions: repairs and renewals: overview, page date 2020-03-03
• Canada: CRA: Expenses section of Form T2125, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Line 8960 – Repairs and maintenance, page date 2026-08-31 · CRA: Current or capital 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 2026-10-21. Found a mistake? Tell us via Support.