Anyone buying treadmills, racks, dumbbells or bikes for a gym, studio or personal training business faces a question that has little to do with specification sheets: how the purchase is treated for tax. HMRC’s capital allowances let businesses deduct some or all of the cost of qualifying equipment from profits. This article summarises the GOV.UK guidance on capital allowances for plant and machinery as it stands in September 2026. It describes the guidance for UK businesses in general terms and is not tax advice; the rules turn on the type of business and the item, and an accountant or HMRC can confirm how they apply.
What capital allowances are
GOV.UK describes capital allowances as a type of tax relief for businesses that lets you deduct some or all of the value of an item from your profits before you pay tax. It says you can claim on equipment, machinery and business vehicles, known collectively as “plant and machinery”. Whether a specific piece of fitness equipment counts depends on HMRC’s definition of plant and machinery, so a business should check rather than assume. In most cases, the value used is what was paid for the item. Where the business owned the item before using it, or received it as a gift, the market value is used instead.
A first check: the cash basis
GOV.UK states that a sole trader or partnership using the cash basis can only claim capital allowances on business cars. Someone who runs a personal training business as a sole trader on the cash basis therefore should not expect to claim allowances on a rack or treadmill through this route, and should check how equipment purchases are treated under the cash basis instead. Limited companies, and sole traders or partnerships not using the cash basis, can claim on equipment.
The main allowances compared
- Annual investment allowance (AIA): GOV.UK says you can claim up to £1 million on certain plant and machinery, and the AIA amount has been £1 million from 1 January 2019 for sole traders, partnerships and limited companies. It lets you deduct the full value of a qualifying item from profits before tax. It applies to most plant and machinery up to the AIA amount, but not to business cars, items owned for another reason before being used in the business, or gifts.
- Full expensing and 50% first-year allowance: only companies can claim these. The equipment must have been bought from 1 April 2023, must be new and unused, and must not be a car. Full expensing deducts 100% of the cost in the year of purchase; the 50% first-year allowance deducts 50%. A business cannot claim both against the same expenditure.
- 40% first-year allowance: GOV.UK lists this for qualifying plant and machinery purchased after 1 January 2026.
- Writing down allowances: these apply if plant and machinery does not qualify for another allowance, or if value remains after claiming the maximum amount of another one.
Where an item qualifies for more than one allowance, GOV.UK says you can choose which to use.
Second-hand and mixed-use equipment
The new-and-unused condition for full expensing means used equipment is outside that allowance. The AIA guidance excludes only items already owned for another reason, gifts, and cars, which suggests that second-hand equipment bought from a third party is not excluded, though a business should confirm this for its own situation. For sole traders and partnerships, GOV.UK says items also used outside the business cannot be claimed in full: the allowance is reduced by the proportion of outside use, so an item used half the time outside the business is reduced by 50%.
When and how a purchase counts
Allowances such as AIA and the first-year allowances must be claimed in the accounting period in which the item was bought. GOV.UK sets the purchase date as the date the contract was signed, if payment is due in less than four months, or the date payment is due, if it is due more than four months later. Under a hire purchase contract, the date is when you start using the item, and you can claim for all payments you will make under the contract, though not for the interest. Claims are made on a Self Assessment return for sole traders, a partnership tax return, or a Company Tax Return, which must include a separate capital allowances calculation.
What is not equipment
GOV.UK separates capital allowances from other costs. Day-to-day running costs, items a business trades in and interest or finance costs are claimed differently: as business expenses for sole traders and partnerships, or deducted as a business cost for limited companies. In fitness terms, a bike bought to use in classes is equipment, while a bike bought to resell is stock. Servicing and consumables such as lubricant are running costs.
If the full cost is not claimed
A business that does not want to claim the full cost, for example because profits are low, can claim part as AIA and part through writing down allowances, or use writing down allowances instead. GOV.UK says that if a business spends more than the AIA amount, it can claim first-year allowances or writing down allowances on the excess.
Frequently asked questions
Can a limited company claim full expensing on a treadmill?
According to GOV.UK, a company can claim full expensing on qualifying plant and machinery bought from 1 April 2023 that is new and unused and not a car. Whether a particular treadmill qualifies is for the company and its adviser to confirm.
Does buying on finance change the claim?
Under hire purchase, GOV.UK says you can claim for all payments you will make under the contract from when you start using the item, but not for the interest.
The bottom line
For a fitness business, the key GOV.UK points are that the AIA is £1 million, full expensing is limited to companies buying new and unused equipment, cash-basis sole traders and partnerships can only claim on cars, mixed private use reduces claims, and the timing of purchase decides the accounting period. Because eligibility depends on the item and the business structure, checking with an accountant or HMRC before buying is sensible.