Guide

#Can a light entrepreneur deduct expenses?

Yes. Even though a light entrepreneur doesn't have their own company or bookkeeping, costs arising from doing the work don't automatically come out of your own pocket. Expenses directly related to the work can be taken into account when your salary is paid, and you can also report income-related expenses in your own tax return. The end result is the same as for an entrepreneur, just on a smaller scale: you only pay tax on the portion of income left after expenses.

The basic rule is easy to remember: the expense must relate to invoiced work. If you buy paint for a client's renovation, or pay for a design software licence you use to do client work, that's a work-related expense. But if the purchase mainly serves your free time, it doesn't count as a deductible expense. The Finnish Tax Administration's guidance at vero.fi and Truster's customer service can help with borderline cases.

This guide covers the most common light entrepreneur expenses, how to record expenses in the Truster app, and good practices for keeping receipts. When you get on top of expenses from the start, the amount you take home from your invoicing improves without you having to raise your prices.

Light entrepreneur expenses follow two routes: expenses directly tied to an invoice and to the work itself are handled in Truster when your salary is paid, while more general income-related expenses, such as the home office deduction, are reported on your own tax return. Both routes reduce your taxable income, but the rules differ slightly, so it's worth identifying the nature of an expense right when you make the purchase.

#Typical light entrepreneur expenses

Tools and supplies are the most common expense category: hand tools, machinery, protective equipment, camera gear, or even a massage table. Materials used up on the job, such as building supplies, paint or craft materials, also count as work expenses when they're used for an invoiced assignment.

Software and digital services are a growing expense category: licences for design and image-editing software, cloud services, website maintenance, and apps purchased for professional use. Phone and internet costs belong in the same group, to the extent the connection is used for work. If the same connection serves both work and free time, only the work-use share counts as a work expense.

The third big category covers expenses that maintain your professional skills and visibility: industry courses and training, professional literature, and reasonable marketing costs such as business cards or online advertising. The same principle applies here too: the expense has to serve your income generation as a light entrepreneur.

It's just as important to know what doesn't qualify: everyday clothing, regular grocery shopping and purchases that are mainly for personal use aren't work expenses, even if you sometimes use them at work too. In borderline cases, intended use decides: protective equipment and work clothing that you don't wear in your free time count as work expenses, but jeans don't. If you're unsure, ask before you buy, so you avoid rejected expenses.

#Travel expenses: mileage, tickets and work trips

Getting to jobs costs money, which makes travel expenses an important category for light entrepreneurs. When you drive your own car to a client or a work site, you can be paid a mileage allowance for the trip, and longer work trips may qualify for a per diem allowance. Train tickets, bus tickets and other travel tickets for work assignments also count as work-related expenses.

The tax-free maximum amounts for mileage allowances and per diems are decided annually, so the euro amounts change. You'll find the up-to-date amounts and conditions on the Finnish Tax Administration's website, vero.fi. What matters is keeping a record of your trips: where you drove, when, how far, and which assignment the trip related to. A well-kept travel log makes processing allowances smooth and holds up to scrutiny if the tax authority ever reviews it.

Note that trips between home and a permanent workplace are treated differently in taxation from actual trips to work assignments. Light entrepreneurs' situations vary, so in unclear cases it's worth asking for advice before you record the trip, rather than correcting it afterwards.

In the Truster app, trips are recorded using the same logic as other expenses: you enter the kilometres driven or the tickets bought, state which job the trip related to, and the allowance is processed along with your salary payment. Keeping a travel log on your phone right after the job is the easiest way to keep the information up to date.

#How to record expenses in Truster

Recording expenses in Truster has been made as simple as possible: everything happens in the app. When you incur a work-related expense, take a photo of the receipt and add the expense to the app right there at the point of purchase. Briefly note which job or invoice the expense relates to, and processing will be quick.

Approved expenses are taken into account automatically when your salary is paid: you don't need to calculate anything yourself or try to remember expenses at payment time. This way your tax is based on your actual earnings, not on the gross amount before expenses have been deducted. The same applies to travel costs, which are recorded as their own line items in the app.

It's also worth remembering that some income-related expenses can be reported directly in your own tax return via OmaVero (the Finnish Tax Administration's online service), for example when an expense isn't tied to a single invoice but to the whole year's work. The Tax Administration's guidance explains which expenses are reported on the tax return and how.

Timing matters: record the expense against the job and invoice it relates to, rather than letting receipts pile up for months. An expense recorded fresh is easy to match to the right job, and your salary payment goes through without any back-and-forth. The app's expense history also lets you see afterwards how much your work actually costs, which is valuable information for pricing.

If you're not sure whether an expense qualifies, submit it for processing anyway and explain the situation openly in the description. It's better to have a borderline case assessed right away than to skip a legitimate expense altogether just to be safe. Over time you'll learn the typical expenses in your field, and recording them will become routine.

#Keeping receipts and good practices

A receipt is proof of an expense, and without it, an expense is hard to approve. Build yourself a habit: photograph the receipt right at the checkout, or save an e-receipt the moment it lands in your email. Thermal-paper receipts fade quickly and become unreadable, so it's best to take the photo the same day.

Keep your receipts and supporting documents carefully even after an expense has been processed. The Tax Administration can ask to see supporting documents afterwards, and the retention obligation lasts several years. Receipt photos saved in the Truster app stay in one place, which makes things much easier compared with a shoebox full of paper slips.

To sum up, three good practices: record the expense right away instead of at the end of the month, always note which job the expense relates to, and keep work purchases separate from personal purchases already at the store. These habits keep expense handling effortless and your taxation accurate, without extra hassle.

In the end, handling expenses well is a skill worth money: two light entrepreneurs doing the same work can invoice the same amount, but the one who handles expenses correctly takes home more. Make it a habit to check after every job whether it generated any expenses, and record them right away.